Russia imposes financial sanctions on 322 members of Ukrainian elite, 68 entities:
By RFE/RL
Russia has imposed sweeping financial sanctions on 322 members of the Ukrainian elite and 68 companies owned by prominent Ukrainian businessmen.
Among individuals targeted by the sanctions are President Petro Poroshenko's son, former Prime Ministers Yulia Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and the former leader of the ultranationalist Right Sector group, Dmytro Yarosh.
The sanctions were announced in a decree signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev published on the government's website on November 1.
According to the decree, the goal of the measure is "to counter Ukraine's unfriendly activities towards Russian citizens and entities, and to normalize bilateral relations."
The sanctions include the freezing of assets and property on Russia's territory. Among those affected are also judges of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, Ukrainian lawmakers, oligarchs, officials of the presidential office, executive officials, and major Ukrainian companies.
Medvedev's move came 10 days after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting the stage for "special economic measures" against Ukraine, instructing the government to draft a list of Ukrainian firms and individuals to be targeted for economic sanctions.
Ukraine, like the United States and the European Union, has imposed sanctions on Russian business people, companies, and other entities in response to Moscow's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and its support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.