(Brussels) The Europeans sanctioned the two daughters of Vladimir Putin, now on the EU blacklist, on Friday, along with more than 200 other people, including several oligarchs close to the Russian president and pro-Kremlin press bosses.
Posted at 3:01 p.m.
Updated at 3:16 p.m.
Already targeted by Washington and London, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, born in 1985 and 1986 respectively, are the daughters of Vladimir Putin and Lioudmila Putina, from whom the Russian president announced that he had divorced in 2013.
Like the 217 individuals and 18 entities added to this list published in the EU’s official journal, they are banned from entering the EU and their assets are frozen there.
The eldest, Maria Vorontsova, is targeted for her role in Nomenko, a major investment project company in the health sector which provides “substantial sources of income” to the Russian government, specifies the official newspaper.
His sister, Katerina Tikhonova, runs a support fund for young scientists created by companies whose leaders “are members of the inner circle of oligarchs” of the Russian president, according to the same source.
This fifth salvo of sanctions also imposes economic measures, in particular an embargo on Russian coal from August and the closure of European ports to ships flying the Russian flag. Coal purchases by the EU represent an amount of eight billion euros per year, a sum much lower than the purchases of gas and oil.
It was decided after the discovery of dozens of corpses of civilians last weekend in Boutcha, near Kyiv, after the withdrawal of Russian forces. The images sparked global shock and accusations of “war crimes” against Moscow.