Voice of Ukraine: Zelensky approved sanctions against Russian individuals and companies

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed decrees that put into effect the decisions of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on sanctions against a number of Russian individuals and organizations.

In particular, 24 companies were included in the list, including Lenpromtransproekt, Geozemstroy, the Insurance Business Group joint-stock company, Transstroy, Krymsetenergoproekt, the Sevastopol Tourism Development Center, the fund for social and cultural projects National cultural heritage” and other legal entities.

The corresponding list was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine last fall.

The National Security and Defense Council approved the document on December 30, 2021.

According to Kiev's official position, restrictions are imposed against companies "involved in the illegal construction and operation of the so-called bridge across the Kerch Strait", as well as "damaging the national cultural heritage on the territory of Sevastopol."

In relation to the participants of the lists, measures such as blocking assets, restricting trade operations, suspending the fulfillment of economic and financial obligations, canceling or stopping licenses and permits, and preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine will be applied.

Other documents signed by Zelensky provide for sanctions in accordance with the lists of individuals approved by the National Security and Defense Council.

Thus, restrictions were applied to 18 persons involved, according to Kiev, in “making unjust court decisions on the alienation of the property of the Crimean diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine” on the territory of Crimea.

All members of this list hold positions in the Russian judiciary.

Another document lists 52 individuals who, as the National Security and Defense Council explained, occupying senior positions “in the structure of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation” in Crimea and Sevastopol “cause significant damage to the national interests and security of the Ukrainian people.”

The list included, among other things, the Presidential Plenipotentiary of Russia in the North Caucasus Federal District Yuri Chaika, who served as the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation from 2006 to 2020, and designer Artemy Lebedev, who was also banned from entering Ukraine in 2017.

Lebedev reacted to the publication of information about his inclusion in the sanctions list.

“Zaya, now I can sleep peacefully,” the designer wrote in his Telegram channel.

"Cheap Populism"

Commenting on Zelensky's decisions, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Chepa, in an interview with RT, noted that the Ukrainian president follows the trend that was set in the United States.

The deputy recalled that Moscow and Washington are currently negotiating security guarantees, while Kiev, meanwhile, is pushing the United States and Europe to impose sanctions against Russia.

“Attempts to act on their own and show their importance, that’s what pushes Zelensky to take such steps that will lead nowhere.

This is cheap populism and nothing else, ”concluded the parliamentarian.

According to media reports, earlier Zelensky called on US senators to immediately introduce new anti-Russian sanctions.

As Axios reported, the President of Ukraine told a group of US senators who visited Kiev that sanctions against Moscow "after the invasion" of the Russian Federation into Ukraine do not make sense.

Recall that throughout 2021, foreign media systematically reported on the “increased concentration” of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine.

Later, within the framework of this rhetoric, statements began to appear that Moscow was allegedly preparing to attack Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the existence of such plans.

Also on russian.rt.com Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba called on the US and the EU to agree on a package of sanctions against Russia

Political scientist Ivan Mezyuho, in a conversation with an RT correspondent, also called Kiev's recent actions a demonstration.

“By and large, they do not affect the economic relations between Ukraine and Russia, which are already reduced to a minimum.

With these restrictive measures, the President of Ukraine once again demonstrates his anti-Russian and anti-Crimean position.

This was done to draw US attention to the voice of Ukraine,” Mezyuho said.

According to the political scientist, negotiations on security guarantees are being conducted without consultations with Ukraine, which in the United States “is called an ally in words, but in fact it is considered a provincial colony and a springboard for confrontation with the Russian Federation.”

Mezuho also expressed confidence that the sanctions imposed by Zelensky would not be paid much attention either in the United States or in Russia.

“Because officials working on the territory of the Crimean peninsula have long been accustomed to the restrictive measures of the West and Ukraine,” the expert noted.