“A decision has been made regarding sanctions in the context of subsoil use ... The maximum type of sanctions that our country can apply and which the NSDC of our country can apply has been applied to 19 companies,” RIA Novosti quotes NSDC Secretary Alexei Danilov as saying.

At the same time, according to him, the NSDC made a decision on the need for an audit of permits issued for the use of subsoil.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine against a number of Ukrainian individuals, companies and TV channels, said that Kiev intends to "cut off the oxygen" to everyone who is trying to destroy the country's independence from within.