KIEV, November 2. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a new package of sanction measures against Russia into force, according to four presidential decrees published on Tuesday.
"I decree to put into force a decision of the National Security and Defense Council dated October 15, 2021 on the "Application of personal, special, economic and other restrictive measures," the presidential decree reads.
In all, the four executive decrees levied sanctions against 140 private individuals and 50 corporate entities in Russia.
Sanctions approved by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on October 15 primarily targeted private individuals, who helped to organize elections to the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) in Crimea with the involvement of people from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Additionally, the list of sanctions includes the Mere discount retail chain and its beneficiaries. Other companies subjected to restrictions include: leading players in the Russian cybersecurity market, Group-IB; domain name registrar Reg.Ru; Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 1 in Simferopol; More Shipyard in Feodosia, Crimea; Science and Technology Center Impulse-2 in Sevastopol; Ukrainian air flight companies Khors, Kamus Air and Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines (UM Air).
Earlier, Ukraine imposed sanctions against 95 people, who it claimed were involved in the organization of elections to the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) in Crimea.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russian, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.
Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaties on March 18, 2014. The documents were ratified by Russia’s Federal Assembly, or bicameral parliament, on March 21.
Despite the overwhelming results of the referendum, Ukraine still refuses to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.
On July 20, Russia’s Central Election Commission allowed residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) who have Russian passports to take part in the elections to the Russian State Duma in the online format. Voting at the elections to the Russian State Duma was held on September 17,18, and 19.