New Western sanctions target Putin’s daughters

• A new sanctions package against Russia included several economic penalties on President Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters and top security officials.
• The White House declared that additional sanctions will be imposed on Russia as long as it “continues its brutal assault on Ukraine.”
• The new sanctions include a ban on all new investments and increased penalties on Russia’s largest financial institutions and state-owned enterprises.

The new sanctions package against Russia targeted President Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters and top security officials, in response to reported atrocities around Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv.

According to the White House, the U.S. coordinated with the Group of 7 and the European Union to roll out the sanctions designed to impose “severe and immediate economic costs” and “degrade key instruments on Russian state power.”

The White House declared, “As long as Russia continues its brutal assault on Ukraine, we will stand unified with our allies and partners in imposing additional costs on Russia for its actions.”

The sanctions employ a ban on all new investment in Russia, as well as harsher penalties on Russia’s financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, government officials, and their family members.

The sweeping sanctions include Putin’s two adult daughters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife and daughter, and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

U.S. citizens have been prohibited to conduct business with Sberbank and Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, as well as several state-owned enterprises.

President Biden cited the recent discovery of civilian killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in seeking harsher sanctions against Russia.

Biden called Putin a “brutal” war criminal, and declared the need to collect information to start a wartime trial. He also emphasized the need to continue providing “Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters at the White House to expect further sanctions announcements “this week.”

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke virtually to the 15-member body of the United Nations Security Council. He detailed the Russians’ war crimes, which included the deliberate destruction of cities and shelters, killing innocent adults and children, and blocking evacuations.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed photos and footage of the shocking scenes of destruction and death as “fake.” But several news outlets, such as CBS News, have witnessed firsthand the clear proof of atrocities committed in the areas around Kyiv. Bodies, with hands tied behind their backs, were found in the streets of Bucha, along with mass graves.

This prompted renewed calls for harsher sanctions, such as a complete cut-off of oil and gas imports. Some countries, such as Germany and France, have already expelled dozens of diplomats, suggesting they were spies.

Source: CBS News