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Putin's daughter Maria Vorontsova (photo from 2021)
Photo:
Ekaterina Chesnokova / SNA / IMAGO
The US is imposing new sanctions on Russia in the face of the war in Ukraine and the atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha.
The punitive measures are aimed, among other things, at two large Russian banks and the adult children of Russian President Vladimir
Putin
and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as the White House in Washington announced on Wednesday.
"The disgusting brutality in Bucha has tragically exposed the despicable character of the Putin regime," a senior US official said.
Affected by the sanctions are the large Russian Sberbank and the Alfa-Bank, founded by several oligarchs.
According to the White House, Sberbank holds almost a third of the assets of the entire Russian banking sector and is systemically important for the Russian economy.
Alfa Bank is Russia's largest privately owned financial institution.
The US government also prohibits new investments in Russia by US persons wherever they are located.
In this way, Russia should be further isolated from the global economy.
Punitive measures are also taken against Russian elites and their relatives.
These include President Putin's adult children, Foreign Minister Lavrov's wife and daughter, former Russian head of state Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
"This measure will cut them off from the US financial system and freeze their assets in the United States," the White House said.
Entry bans and frozen assets
The EU is also targeting Putin's daughters: Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova are to be included on the European Union's sanctions list.
This was confirmed by diplomats from the AFP news agency.
This threatens them with entry bans in the EU and the freezing of their assets in Europe.
Little is known about Putin's daughters as the Russian president keeps his personal life private from the public eye.
The older daughter, Maria Vorontsova, was born in 1985, the younger, Katerina Tikhonova, in 1986. Her mother is Ludmila Putina, from whom the head of state divorced in 2013.
According to Russian media, Vorontsova is a medical doctor and co-owner of a medical research company.
Tikhonova heads an institute for artificial intelligence at Moscow State University.
Putin himself is already on the EU sanctions list: his assets have been frozen.
The new punitive measures include import bans on coal and Russian wood and alcoholic beverages such as vodka.
In Brussels it is expected that the EU ambassadors will approve the fifth package of sanctions on Wednesday when the final details have been clarified.
Then the member states would still have to formally seal it before it comes into force with publication in the Official Journal.
as/AFP/dpa
