Russia has announced sanctions against senior Ukrainian officials as well as business and cultural figures, including the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the frontrunner for Ukraine’s 2019 presidential elections.
The Russian measures were presented as counter-sanctions after Ukraine targeted Russian officials and businesses earlier this year. The conflict goes back to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its backing for separatists in south-east Ukraine.
The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday announced a list of 322 names – including the son of the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko – and 68 companies that would be barred from doing business in Russia and whose assets would be frozen if they had them in Russia.
Russia also sanctioned leading Ukrainian security officials. Among them were Ukraine’s right-leaning interior minister, Arsen Avakov, the head of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, Oleksandr Turchynov, and the head of Ukraine’s SBU security service, Vasyl Hrytsak.
While Poroshenko was not sanctioned, those close to him were. They included the head of his presidential administration and his son Olexiy, who is a member of Ukraine’s parliament and also served during the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine.
