WASHINGTON – The United States imposed sanctions on Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, three family members of President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson and lawmakers in the latest punishment for Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
Russia has been hit by a slew of measures since launching its Feb. 24 military operation, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945.
Those hit by recent sanctions include 10 people on the board of VTB Bank, the second-largest lender in Russia, and 12 members of the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
“Treasury continues to hold Russian officials to account for enabling Putin’s unjustified and unprovoked war,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen according to Reuters.
Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was targeted on March 3. The new measures extend to his wife and two adult children.
They lead “luxurious lifestyles that are incongruous with Peskov´s civil servant salary”, the Treasury said in a release.
The Kremlin did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment out-of-hours.
Eleven members and speaker Vyacheslav Volodin were added to the sanctions list.
Discussion about this post