New sanctions against Russia may include ban on sales of toilet bowls

This is reported by Euobserver with reference to a 146-page list of goods that will no longer be exported to Russia.

The main goal of the trade embargo, which will affect exports worth EUR 11 billion a year, is to stop the sale of high-tech goods that can be used in Russian weapons systems.

According to the documents reviewed by Euobserver, these are electronics, lasers, radio equipment, software, avionics, marine cameras, and rare earth minerals.

The other part of the new trade ban is intended to strike at Russia's industrial potential in a broader sense.

The list includes bidets, toilets, cisterns, and similar plumbing products, as well as LEDs, hemp yarn, forklifts, postal sorting machines, chimneys, bricks, tires, and even pen nibs. 

The toilets became a symbol of how Russian President Vladimir Putin's 24-year rule had done nothing to improve the lives of Russians when Russian soldiers began stealing them, first in Georgia in 2008 and now in Ukraine, as one in five Russian homes still does not have one.

The EU sanctions are to come into effect by February 24, the first anniversary of the war.

• On February 15, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented an official proposal for the tenth package of sanctions against Russia.