United States Government on Wednesday announced it would impose a new slate of sanctions on Russia that includes first-time sanctions on the two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gatekeepers News reports that Putin’s daughters; Katerina Tikhonovna and Maria Putina, who are in their 30s, are rarely seen in public and almost never mentioned by their father.
“We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” said a senior administration official who spoke on background to preview the new measures.
In addition to Putin’s daughters, the U.S. will sanction Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter, as well as Former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the White House announced.
Gatekeepers News reports that the new sanctions are a direct response to fresh evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, a city in Ukraine, where civilians were found shot to death with their hands tied behind their backs following Russia’s weekslong invasion of the village.
Biden will sign a new executive order prohibiting any new investment in Russia by Americans, which will apply to both U.S residents and those living abroad.
Two of Russia’s largest banks, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank will also be subjected to full blocking sanctions for the first time, though with carve-outs for energy purchases.
Several major Russian state enterprises are being placed under full blocking sanctions, the White House said, with specific entities to be announced later this week by the Treasury Department.
The senior administration official noted that the new sanctions are being coordinated with members of the G-7 group of developed economies and the European Union, part of an effort to maximize their impact and minimize opportunities for the Kremlin to evade them.
