US expands sanctions against Russia because of Crimea and Donbas
The United States Treasury Department reports that the U.S. introduced additional sanctions against three individuals and nine Russian legal entities in connection with the annexation of the Crimea and occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In particular, the sanctions were imposed on the ex-SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) officer Alexander Basov, who now holds the position of the so-called "Deputy Minister of State Security" of the Luhansk People's Republic, the officer of the FSB of Russia, Andriy Sushko (former Lieutenant-Colonel of the SBU) and the former commander-in-chief of Russian Federation missile and artillery, Vladimir Zaritsky.
The sanctions also targeted Crimean resorts Ai-Petri, Mishor and Dulber, joint-stock company Krymteploelektrostsentral, company Garant-SV, Infrastructure Project Management Company, Limited Liability Company Yuzhny Proekt (Southern Project), Mriya sanatorium resort complex, the so-called "Ministry of State Security" of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic".
Previously, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, announced the introduction of restrictive measures.
On November 1, Russia imposed sanctions against 322 individuals and 68 legal entities of Ukraine in connection with "unfriendly actions against the Russian Federation". Ukraine’s sanctions in regards to Russians individuals and Russian companies were introduced in September 2015, after which these sanctions were expanded several times and their validity was extended.