The European Union adopted, on Friday 16 December, its ninth package of sanctions against Russia.
Member States have adopted restrictive measures against 141 individuals and 49 entities, for a total of 1,557 individuals and 171 entities.
Of these, 77 are related to the military and defence field - including the Russian armed forces, members of the Coordination Council, which was created to organise the troops, paramilitary groups and 23 defence-related companies.
59 are politicians: 12 members of the government, including 2 deputy prime ministers, 42 elected members of the Duma and the Federation Council and 5 political parties.
Members of the occupation authorities, who allegedly supervised the looting of grain, and 11 people who allegedly participated in the kidnapping and adoption of Ukrainian children are sanctioned as well.
The President and nine judges of the Constitutional Court are also affected by the measures, as are eight media entities and individuals and six ‘propagandists’, including the Federal Supervisory Service for Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media.
In addition, four members of the family of Yuri Kovalchuk, a businessman close to Putin, and two daughters of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov are also sanctioned.
The EU will impose as well an asset freeze on two other Russian banks - Credit Bank of Moscow and Dalnevostochny Bank - and a subsidiary of a Russian bank operating in the EU, and will add the Russian Regional Development Bank to the list of Russian state-owned or state-controlled entities that are subject to a total transaction ban.
Furthermore, the EU Council initiated the procedure to suspend the broadcasting licences of four new media: NTV/NTV Mir, Rossiya 1, REN TV and Pervyi Kanal, believing that these media, under the permanent direct or indirect control of the Russian leadership, have been used by the latter for their continuous and concerted actions of disinformation and war propaganda. These measures will not prevent these media and their staff from carrying out activities in the EU other than broadcasting, such as research and interviews, the EU Council said.
Sectoral sanctions. The new package covers new controls and restrictions on the export of dual-use goods and technologies and goods and technologies that could contribute to the technological strengthening of the Russian defence and security sector. It expands the list of entities linked to the Russian military and industrial complex by adding 168 entities subject to sectoral measures. According to the EU Council, this will ensure that essential chemicals, nerve agents, night vision and radio navigation equipment and electronic and computer components that could be used by the Russian war machine cannot be traded freely.
To avoid circumvention, certain Russian-controlled entities in illegally annexed Crimea or Sevastopol are included in the list.
The EU expands the export ban on aviation and space-related goods and technology to include aircraft engines and their parts. This ban will apply to both manned and unmanned aircraft, which means that direct exports of drone engines to Russia and any third country that may supply Russia with drones will be prohibited.
The new sanctions extend the ban on new investments in the Russian energy sector by prohibiting them in the Russian mining sector, with the exception of mining and extraction of certain critical raw materials.
The EU also prohibits the provision of EU advertising, market research and opinion polling services, as well as product testing and technical inspection services to the Russian Federation. For these services, a transition period of 30 days has been agreed.
Finally, EU nationals are prohibited from holding positions in the governing bodies of all legal persons, entities or bodies owned or controlled by the Russian State and located in Russia.
Clarification on agricultural products
In addition, the EU27 clarified the rules on agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, between third countries and Russia. These products are not sanctioned by the EU, but sanctions against certain players in the sector are causing difficulties.
Thus, in order to avoid disruptions in the payment channels for agricultural products, the EU decided to introduce a new derogation allowing the release of assets and the provision of funds and economic resources to certain persons who played an important role in the international trade of agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, prior to their listing on the sanctions list.
See the legal acts: https://aeur.eu/f/4q0
Condemnation of the latest Russian strikes
On the same day, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, denounced Russia’s massive missile attacks across Ukraine as “yet another example of the Kremlin’s blind terror”. “These bombings are war crimes and barbaric. All those responsible will be held accountable”, he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)