The European Union is sanctioning 23 high-ranking individuals including banking executives, military chiefs, media figures and a top Kremlin official in retaliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of separatist territories in Ukraine.
The list of sanctions, which Bloomberg has seen, was adopted by EU member states Wednesday. The measures are expected to be published and come into force shortly, according to officials familiar with the process.
Those on the list included state television presenter Vladimir Soloviev, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and the head of Kremlin-backed media outlet RT, Margarita Simonyan, according to the officials. The EU also sanctioned Denis Bortnikov, deputy president of state-owned VTB Bank PJSC, a day after the U.S. penalized him.