EU Issues Sanctions List Against Russian Individuals

The European Union's sanctions against Russia have come into effect due to its recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, and a list of individuals subject to sanctions has been published. The list includes Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, the editor-in-chief of RT Margarita Simonyan, and program host Vladimir Solovyov. The EU has also included more than 300 Russian parliamentarians in the sanctions list, among them Pyotr Tolstoy, Alexey Pushkov, and Gennady Zyuganov. The sanctions also encompass businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, along with his mother and wife, as well as several Russian banks. These sanctions were a response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's signing of two decrees last Monday recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics from Ukraine, amid an ongoing military-political crisis in the Donbas region since 2014. Furthermore, Putin has signed agreements of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, directing the Russian armed forces to "carry out missions to ensure peace" within their territories.