The list includes Putin’s alleged partner, Alina Kabaeva, and those responsible for the Mariupol siege and the Bucha massacres.
The European Union formally adopted its sixth package of sanctions against Russia on Friday, which includes individual penalties against 65 individuals and 18 companies involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Names of people close to President Vladimir Putin’s circle appear on the “blacklist”, such as former gymnast Alina Kavaeba, identified as the lover of the leader, as well as high-ranking military and Belarusian commanders.
The sixth round of European sanctions, in addition to the oil veto, includes an asset freeze and a ban on persons close to the Russian president from entering community territory. Among them is the Olympic athlete Kavaeba, Athens 2004 champion and member of the Russian Parliament (Duma), who is credited with a “close relationship” with Putin. However, the Kremlin has repeatedly denied that they are in a relationship.
The EU list also includes the names of 45 senior officials of the Russian armed forces. Among them is that of Azatbek Omurbekov, called ‘the butcher of Bucha’, and that of General Mijail Mizintsev, responsible for the offensive against Mariupol. The European Commission’s original proposal also included Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, among those to be warned, but had his name withdrawn due to the risk that Hungary would eventually veto the entire penalty package.
Of the 18 Russian companies sanctioned, the majority operate in the defense sector, which is essential for the Russian military. The EU sanctions prohibit European citizens and companies from investing in it. In total, since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, Europe has applied sanctions against 1,158 people and 98 Russian entities.
Meanwhile, in recent hours, information has come out again about the alleged precarious health of the Russian leader. The US magazine ‘Newsweek’, which cites as sources three members of US intelligence who apparently had access to recently declassified reports, not only pointed to an alleged assassination attempt on Putin last March, a handful of weeks later from the attack on Ukraine, but received a month later, in April, treatment for serious cancer.
Source: La Verdad
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