The EU’s hit list: Who’s who in the Russian sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin and fellow foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are only the tip of the iceberg among the individuals and entities sanctioned by the EU over the Ukraine invasion.

Over the weekend, the European Council agreed to a package of sanctions against Russia after invading neighbouring Ukraine.

The EU agreed to freeze the assets of Putin and Lavrov, while also imposing restrictive measures on the members of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation who supported Russia’s immediate recognition of the two non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities.

Among the key individuals are Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, and head of Russian security service Alexsandr Bortnikov. Both feature on the EU and US travel ban as well as the asset freeze list.

The EU imposed further sanctions of 351 members of the Russian parliament. All the members affected are banned from travelling to the EU, and their assets have been frozen.

Members of the Russian Security council are also on the EU and US travel ban and asset freeze lists.

The European Council had also agreed on a further package of individual and economic measures covering Belarus to respond to the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

In fact, several Belarusian officials working in the military, government, or border sections have had their assets frozen and have been placed on the EU and US travel ban list for planning and supporting the Russian offensive.

High-profile businessmen and politicians have also been placed on the EU sanctions list, as have their families. For example, Violette and Lyubov Prigozhina, mother and wife of Yevgeny Prigozhin, have been banned from the EU and their assets frozen. The EU said Prigozhin is responsible for sending Wagner Group mercenaries to Ukraine.

Russian banks have also been affected by sanctions. For Alfa-Bank and Bank Otkritie, the EU placed a ban on issuing bonds, shares or loans in the EU for refinancing.

Bank Rossyia and Promsvyazbank have also been placed under an EU asset freeze.

Several Russian banks will be removed from the SWIFT international payments system, but the affected banks are yet to be identified.

VEB.RF, a major financial development institution and an important source of revenue for the Russian government, has also been sanctioned by the EU, and already features on US and UK lists.

EU companies have been banned from doing business with select companies, including weaponsmaker JSC Kalashnikov and all state-owned companies.