Niece of Putin, Medvedev's son, and plants: Who's on new EU's sanctions list

The new package of sanctions includes Belarusian and Russian military personnel, officials linked to the war in Ukraine and territorial annexation. It also targets defense-related enterprises and private military companies.

Relatives of Vladimir Putin's cousin, Anna Tsvileva, and the son of the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Ilya Medvedev, were included in the sanction list. Anna Tsvilova is connected to the Defenders of the Fatherland fund, playing a significant role in the military aggression against Ukraine. Sanctions were also imposed on this so-called fund.

Medvedev's son was accused of organizing a disinformation propaganda campaign by curating the I am in Russia platform, which provides state services in the annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Russian propagandists were also sanctioned. This includes the TV channels Tsargrad, Spas, and host Anna Shafran (Palyukh), who heads the management of analytical radio programs for the media holding Zvezda.

Sanctions were imposed on well-known Private Military Companies (PMCs), such as the Russian Orthodox Church's Andriyivsky Khrest, Fakel, and Potik owned by Gazprom. Also, targeted were Tsarskie Volki by Dmitry Rogozin, Konvoy chaired by Crimea's annexed head Sergey Aksyonov, the Redut group, and the head of their recruiting, former Special Forces Colonel Anatoly Karaziy.

Telecommunications companies and their employees working in the occupied territories of Ukraine, including MirTelecom, Krymtelecom, Miranda Media, and their general director Ivan Zima, were added to the list.

Individuals involved in the Bucha occupation, such as Assistant Commander of the Special Purposes Mobile Unit Arsenal of the National Guard Andriy Frolenkov and Head of the Special Forces Center Vityaz Oleksandr Beloglazov, also faced sanctions.

Sanctions were applied to members of the Central Election Commission for organizing an illegal referendum in September 2022. This includes Deputy Chairman of the CEC Mykola Bulaiev, member of the Fair Russia party Nikolai Levichev, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at MDU Andriy Shutov, and 13 others, including the heads of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regional election commissions, Marina Zakharova and Halina Katyuchenko.

For the first time, sanctions were imposed on Moscow City Duma Chairman Alexey Shaposhnikov. He was accused of providing financial support to soldiers and developing laws aiding Russia in the war.

EU Sanctions Against Russia

Today, December 18, the European Union enacted a new, 12th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. As stated by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, it includes a "robust set of new listings and economic measures which will further weaken Russia’s war machine."

The sanctions package includes restrictions on importing or transporting Russian diamonds, import-export controls and restrictions, price limits on oil, iron, and steel. Additionally, it incorporates a significant number of additional individuals and entities.

The introduction of the 12th sanctions package was anticipated last week. However, on December 12, EU ambassadors failed to agree on a new package of restrictive measures against Russia. Austria hindered the decision, demanding that Ukraine exclude the Raiffeisen Bank International from the list of international sponsors of the war.