BRUSSELS, July 28. /TASS/. The European Union has expanded sanctions against Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine, adding seven people and five entities from Russia to the black list. The Official Journal of the EU published the relevant regulation on Friday.
"In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers that seven persons and five entities responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine should be added to the list of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in the Annex to Decision 2014/145/CFSP," the document says.
The black list includes the Institute of Russian Diaspora, ANO Dialogue, the Inforos information agency, the Social Design agency, the Structura national technologies company as well as their founders and executives. The EU also imposed sanctions against alleged GRU officers Sergey Panteleev and Denis Tyurin.
According to the EU Council, all blacklisted individuals and organizations are "involved in the Russian-led digital disinformation campaign "RRN" (Recent Reliable News) aiming at manipulating information and sharing disinformation in support of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine."
According to the document, "that campaign, in which government bodies or bodies affiliated to the Russian State have participated, relies on fake web pages usurping the identity of national media outlets and government websites as well as fake accounts on social media."
All blacklisted individuals are banned from entering the EU and their assets in the community - if any found will be frozen.