BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union (EU) blacklisted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters and more than 200 other people as part of its latest sanctions package over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to an official list published late Friday.
Those on the list, which additionally included 18 companies, face asset seizures and travel bans in the 27-nation EU.
The United States (US) and Britain had already sanctioned Putin’s two daughters: Maria Vorontsova and Katerina (or Ekaterina) Tikhonova, born in 1985 and 1986.
EU member states had already agreed their inclusion earlier this week but their blacklisting only took effect late Friday with the publication in the European Union’s Official Journal, which requires translation work to be made available in 24 languages.
A total of 217 individuals were added to the EU’s blacklist, including Putin’s offspring. That expanded the list drawn up against Russia to a total 1,091 people.
“We are again reinforcing our sanctions lists and adding more people from politics, the business sector and those engaged in propaganda activities, together with more entities from the financial, military-industrial and transport sectors,” EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
“We are targetting the Kremlin, the political and economic elites supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine. The aim of our sanctions is to stop the reckless, inhuman and aggressive behaviour of the Russian troops and make clear to the decision makers in the Kremlin that their illegal aggression comes at a heavy cost.”
The EU said Vorontsova was on the list because she was co-owner of Nomenko, a company “involved in Russia’s largest private investment project in healthcare”. She was thus deemed to benefit from the Russian government and was involved in a sector providing it revenue. She is reputedly married to a Russian-born Dutch businessman, according to media reports.
The EU list had her sister Tikhonova included because “she currently heads the Innopraktika development initiative, funded by key Russian companies whose directors are members of the inner circle of oligarchs close to Russian President Putin”. She was also seen to benefit from the Kremlin and be involved in providing it revenue.
