EU Announces 10th Package of Sanctions Against Russia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union published on Saturday its 10th package of sanctions targeting 87 Russian nationals and 34 entities over the conflict in Ukraine.

This brings the total number of blacklisted entities up to 205, while 1,473 people face travel bans and asset freezes under the fresh round of restrictions that the EU hopes will add pressure on the country.

"Today we are targeting 121 individuals and entities… including those responsible for military activities, for political decisions, who are polluting the public space with disinformation and malicious narratives," the Council of the European Union said in a statement.

At the political and institutional level, the Council has designated 19 deputy ministers and a number of Russian government officials, including heads of federal agencies, four lawmakers, and the All-Russia People’s Front campaign.

In the Russian military sector, sanctions were brought against the Russian Defense Ministry and intelligence agency SVR, as well as against Khrunichev state space research center and rocket maker for its contribution to the Defense Ministry’s military satellite launches. Sanctions were also imposed on several defense manufacturers affiliated with Russia's Rosatom nuclear agency.

Russian military commanders Alexei Avdeyev, Mikhail Teplinsky and Sergei Karakayev were targeted by individual travel bans and asset freezes.

Prosecutors in the four regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Donetsk Peoples' Republic were also blacklisted as "proxy authorities."

Economic actors covered in the new sanctions package include banks such as:

as well as the Russian National Reinsurance Company and Russia’s top commercial vehicle maker Gaz. It also sanctioned Rosatomflot, the operator of the Russian fleet of nuclear icebreakers, for helping unlock the lucrative Northern Sea Route in the Arctic.

Continuing its crackdown on freedom of speech, the Council imposed sanctions on media organizations, such as Rossiya Segodnya media group, and individual journalists, including its executive director Kirill Vyshinsky, and Regnum chief editor Marina Akhmedova. They are accused of "polluting the public space with disinformation." It also sanctioned Vadim Subbotin, deputy head of Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor, who is accused of limiting Russians’ access to information.

In the social affairs and human rights area, the EU sanctioned head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's outreach agency Rossotrudnichestvo Yevgeny Primakov, Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova, head of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Valery Fadeyev, and the president of the Foundation for the Defense of National Values, Maxim Shugalei.

The EU also sanctioned foreign nationals and entities over their alleged ties to Russia. These include Vyacheslav Boguslayev, former Ukrainian lawmaker and head of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich, who is in custody in Ukraine on charges of allegedly providing military equipment to Russian troops.

Several Central African Republic companies were targeted over their alleged connections to the Wagner private military firm. They include Lobaye Invest Sarlu, Diamville, Lengo Sengo radio station, and Sudan’s Meroe Gold LTD and M-Invest companies.