BRUSSELS, September 10. /TASS/. The EU Council has for the 15th time prolonged the personal EU sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian citizens for what is described as a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, as follows from the EU Council's news release issued on Friday.

"The Council today decided to prolong the sanctions targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months until 15 March 2022," the news release runs.

On the sanction list, there are 177 Russian and Ukrainian individuals, including senior officials of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics, and 48 legal entities, first and foremost related with these republics' bodies of power, law enforcement and military. All those under sanctions are prohibited from entering the EU and accessing the EU's banking system. European businesses are banned from contacting the blacklisted persons and organizations.

The Council prolonged the sanctions by written procedure without discussing the issue on the merits, as source told TASS.