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EU imposes sanctions against 217 businessmen, politicians, reporters from Russia, Donbass

The listed individuals include " high-ranking Kremlin officials, oligarchs - Moshe Kantor, Boris Rotenberg and Oleg Deripaska

BRUSSELS, April 9. /TASS/. The EU imposed restrictions against 217 businessmen, politicians, military and reporters from Russia, LPR and DPR within the fifth package of sanctions over the operation in Ukraine, according to the EU Official Journal.

"The Council decided today to impose restrictive measures on an additional 217 individuals and 18 entities in response to the ongoing unjustified and unprovoked Russian military aggression against Ukraine and other actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," the European Council website says.

The listed individuals include " high-ranking Kremlin officials, oligarchs - Moshe Kantor, Boris Rotenberg and Oleg Deripaska, other prominent businesspeople involved in key economic sectors such as energy, finance, media, defense and arms industry, as well as proponents of disinformation and information manipulation, systematically spreading the Kremlin’s false narrative on the situation in Ukraine," the website reads.

"The list also includes family members of already sanctioned individuals, in view of the fact that they are benefiting from the regime or to prevent the circumvention of EU sanctions. These designations include Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova and Ekaterina Vladimirovna Tikhonova," the website says, claiming that the mentioned women are "daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin."

"Lastly, the so-called ministers and the members of the ‘People’s Council’ of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ are also blacklisted," the European Council said.

The sanctions list also includes Sberbank CEO German Gref, Surgutneftegaz CEO Vladimir Bogdanov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, United Aviation Coroporation CEO Yury Slyusar and others.

The EU also imposed sanctions against top managers of lead Russian meadia, including All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) chairman Oleg Dobrodeyev, TASS CEO Sergey Mikhailov and Moskovsky Komsomolets editor-in-chief Pavel Gusev.

The blacklist also includes LPR Prime Minister Sergey Kozlov, DPR Prime Minister Alexander Ananchenko, ministers of both republics, and members of DPR People’s Council.

Overall, restrictions are currently applied to 1091 people and 80 organizations.

Assets of people on the list are being frozen, EU citizens and companies are barred from providing funds to them. The affected people are also barred from entering or traveling thought EU states.

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