New US sanctions target Russian officials, companies

The US has imposed sanctions on seven Russian individuals and 17 companies it says are linked to President Vladimir Putin’s “inner circle”. The White House said the move was a response to “Russia’s continued illegal intervention in Ukraine”. Those targeted include Igor Sechin, head of oil giant Rosneft, and Sergei Chemezov of the hi-tech firm Rostec.

The announcement comes after the mayor of Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine, was shot and critically wounded. Hennadiy Kernes was recovering after an operation to repair damage to the chest and abdomen, but his life remained in danger, his office said. Monday also saw pro-Russian separatists, whom Western nations accuse Moscow of supporting, seize a local government building in Kostyantynivka, a town to the south. Separatists were also continuing to detain about 40 people in the town of Sloviansk, including journalists, pro-Kiev activists and 12 military observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine’s security service said. The Russian ambassador to the OSCE, Andrei Kelin, said the area around Sloviansk was very tense and that it had been “extremely irresponsible” to send the military monitors there last week. But he added that Moscow was taking “some steps” to secure their release. The US and EU first imposed visa bans and asset freezes on a number of senior Russian officials and companies after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine last month. On Thursday, the White House said it was adding to its sanctions list “in response to Russia’s continued illegal intervention in Ukraine and provocative acts that undermine Ukraine’s democracy and threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity”. It accused Russia of “doing nothing to meet the commitments it made” at a meeting with Ukraine, the US and EU in Geneva on 17 April, which it said had included refraining from violence or provocative acts.