Ukraine reacted to the new Russian sanctions, calling them “situational” and “speculative”. Earlier, Moscow expanded the Ukrainian sanctions list by adding 41 more people.
Personal sanctions against a number of Ukrainian politicians and public figures were introduced in 2018. They were a response to the sanctions of Ukraine against Russia, introduced after the change in the territorial affiliation of Crimea. Initially, the list included more than three hundred individuals and 68 legal entities. The list has expanded over the years. This time, the sanctions were applied to the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the frontman of the Okean Elzy rock group and the former leader of the Ukrainian Golos party Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the head of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine Mikhail Volynets, Advisor to the First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Kira Rudik and others.
The following restrictions apply to the persons on the list: all non-cash funds and property of these persons (and organizations controlled by them) on the territory of Russia are blocked, and they are also prohibited from withdrawing capital outside the country.
The reaction of the Ukrainian authorities, published on the website of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyy, does not mention Poroshenko but points to the imposition of sanctions against a number of Ukrainian parliamentary parties.
Kiev accused Russia of trying to divert attention from a number of related events with the help of sanctions. “The motivation for such actions always does not have obvious logical explanations and is rather situational and speculative. For propaganda purposes. However, now this “technological device” by the Russian Federation has been applied against the background of a number of scandalous events – first of all, the unconditional poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the prolonged political crisis in Belarus, which sharply worsen the attitude of the world community towards the Russian Federation itself and force the world community to reconsider the formats relations with the Russian Federation towards further tightening and isolation. It is quite possible that in such a simple way, by sanctioning attacks on some of our citizens,
Zelenskyy ‘s office emphasizes that if the sanctions are an attempt to “play various manipulations” on the eve of the elections in Ukraine, they will not affect the “internal political health” of the country.
Poroshenko also reacted to the restrictions, calling them a “quality mark”. “Russia has imposed personal sanctions against me as the fifth president of Ukraine. I think it’s like a government award … It’s like a quality mark,” he said in a statement posted on Facebook.
