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EU adds Putin spokesperson Peskov and head of Russian oil firm to its list of sanctioned individuals

01 March 2022 01:47 (UTC +04:00)

The European Union has included a pair of key individuals among its latest list of sanctioned persons, APA reports citing CNN.

These two men are:

Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin
Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian oil firm, Rosneft

In a press release published Monday, the European Council said it's adding a further 26 persons and one entity "to the list of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

Additional restrictive measures — including the freezing of assets and the institution of travel bans — were also placed on:

Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who co-owns the Russian holding company USM Holdings
Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, Megafon
Bankers Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell said in the press release that with these sanctions the EU is "targeting all who are having a significant economic role in supporting Putin’s regime and benefit financially from the system."

Borrell added that the sanctions will "expose the wealth of Putin’s elite" and ensure that those "who enable the invasion of Ukraine will pay a price for their action."

This follows a host of new measures imposed by the EU on Russia last week, which included a ban on transactions with the Russian Central Bank and a ban on overflight of the EU airspace amongst other things.

In total, restrictive measures have now been imposed on 680 individuals and 53 entities, the EU said.