Ukraine imposes fresh sanctions against hundreds of Russian entities

Ukraine has imposed fresh sanctions against 388 officials and 105 companies from Russia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko approved a sanction list on Wednesday.

The Russian companies which are going to suffer sanctions include Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank, Gazpromavia Airline, Ural Airlines, Transaero, Aeroflot and Orenburg Airline. Well known antivirus company Kaspersky Laboratory is also among the Russian entities on the Ukrainian sanction list.

A number of key Russian diplomats are on the sanction list. Russian president’s adviser Sergey Glazyev, Lower House of Parliament Speaker Sergey Naryshkin and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev are among the ones to suffer Ukrainian sanctions. The list also comprises of Chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov, Lower House of Parliament deputy Valery Rashkin and Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Russian Federation Council Committee for International Affairs.

The sanctions against companies will mean "blocking of assets — temporary restriction of the company’s right to use and dispose of owned property" and "suspension of performance of economic and financial obligations [prohibition of extending credits, loans, financial assistance, guarantees; prohibition of lending through purchase of securities; prohibition of securities’ acquisitions," TASS reported.

The sanction list has been announced hours after Donetsk separatists formally announced that they would conduct regional elections on Oct. 18. Lugansk, another rebel region in Ukraine, is going to hold elections on Nov. 1.

According to Poroshenko, the self-declared elections are illegal. "I want to stress the great danger posed by the decision to hold fake elections on October 18 and November 1," AFP quoted Poroshenko's statement on his website.

Ukraine held the Russian individuals on the sanction list responsible for the eastern uprising and the annexation of Crimea. While the list focuses majorly on Russian individuals, it also includes a number of Western individuals. Three Moscow-based employees of the BBC, a Spanish reporter and a German correspondent are also on the sanction list.

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