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Rabat – The United States announced on Wednesday a fresh round of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine will target, for the first time, President Vladimir Putin’s daughters.
After cutting off Russian banks from SWIFT, the international inter-communication network for banks, US sanctions will now extend to Putin’s two daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Mariya Putina, according to news reports.
“We believe that many of Putin’s assets are hidden with family members, and that’s why we’re targeting them,” a US official said on the backdrop of announcing the sanctions.
The new sanctions will equally extend to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov’s wife, and daughter, and Former Russian President and Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, news reports indicate.
The long list of Russian sanctioned individuals includes Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, reports from the White House point out.
US officials maintain that this last slate of sanctions is in direct response to new emerging evidence suggesting that Russian troops have committed war crimes in Bucha, a town in Ukraine.
After weeks of Russian occupation, civilians were found dead with bullet wounds and their hands tied behind their backs, suggesting they had been executed by Russian troops, various reports indicate.
“There’s nothing less happening than major war crimes,” US President Joe Biden said in Washington on the same day the new round of sanctions was announced.
Biden told reporters that he will sign a new executive order banning any new investment on Russian soil by US citizens. The measure extends to both US citizens residing in the country and abroad.
Russia’s largest two banks, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, will be sanctioned for the first time, with the exception of energy purchases.
Days after Putin ordered Russian troops to march into Ukraine, the West unleashed a number of sanctions against Russia which began by cutting off some Russian banks from SWIFT.
Later, the sanctions extended to individuals in the Russian president’s close circle, who are known in international media by the name “Oligarchs.”
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