Ministers, businessmen, propaganda and communication experts. These are some of the 27 figures targeted by the EU sanctions against Russia, according to what the newspaper has learned The print in Brussels. The measures, pending approval in the Official Gazette, will affect 23 individuals and four entities, adding to the squeeze on the 351 members of the Duma who approved the recognition of the independence of the two self-proclaimed republics of Donbass. The sanctions imposed by Brussels provide for a stop to travel within the perimeter of the European Union and the freezing of its assets.
From the government to the media, who is on the “black list”
The list revealed by the Press it brings out the profiles of personalities linked to Putin from government, economic and media roles. Ministers and first-level officials include Sergei Shoigu (Defense), Maxim Reshetnikov (Economic Development), Anton Vaino (head of the presidential executive office). Among the leaders of the army, the sanctions fall on Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov, commander in chief of the Russian Navy, General Oleg Salyukov, head of the ground forces, General Sergey Surovikin, in charge of the aerospace ones and Lieutenant Sergey Vladimirovich Dronov, commander of the aviation.
The black list European Union also extends to personalities from the world of business and the media, also understood as Putin’s propaganda weapon. In the business world, the names of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, founder and “unofficial” head of the Wagner contractor organization, and that of Denis Bortnikov, vice president of the Vtb bank, are sprouting. On the media side, the list includes Margarita Simonyanm, director of Russia Today and “central figure” in the government’s propaganda activity, the number one in the press department of the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, the TV presenter of Russia 1 and Russia 24 Vladimir Solovyev and the director of the Media Group News Front registered in Crimea, Konstantin Knyrik.
The four entities in the crosshairs, from propaganda to finance
Finally, the four “entities” affected orbit around government propaganda and finance. The list includes the Internet research Agency propaganda company, the pro-government media parent Bank Rossiya, the state-owned military spending bank Promsvyazbank and Veb.rf: one of the country’s leading financial institutions, with directly appointed top management from Putin.