EU approves largest to date 13th package of sanctions against Russia

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen shared the information.

"I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia. We must keep degrading Putin's war machine. With 2000 listings in total, we keep the pressure high on the Kremlin. We are also further cutting Russia’s access to drones," she wrote. 

At the same time, the official account of the Belgian EU Presidency on social media X states that this package of sanctions will be one of the largest in the history of the European Union. It will be officially approved on the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. 

The Guardian reports that the sanctions project approved by EU representatives included people who participated in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus, and Crimea.

In particular, the sanctions list includes Inna Varlamova, the wife of Sergei Mironov, a State Duma deputy and leader of the Fair Russia - For Truth party. It is noted that the woman adopted a child abducted from an orphanage in Kherson. It is also noted that Varlamova allegedly personally came to the Kherson region, from where she took two children to the territory of the aggressor country. The children's surnames were changed to Mironov, and their place of birth was changed to Podolsk.

The so-called "ombudsman for children's rights'' in Crimea, Marina Peshchanskaya, was also included in the list. She illegally transported children from an orphanage in Melitopol to Sevastopol.

Sanctions were also imposed on Olga Volkova and Dmitry Demidov, who were named in the document as "key persons involved in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus and their subsequent illegal adoption by Russian and Belarusian families.”

The publication notes that the sanctions list describes attempts to change the attitude of deported Ukrainian children to the war. In particular, it refers to meetings with soldiers, sending them support cards, training in drone operations and combat training.

Earlier, Radio Liberty journalist Rikard Jozwiak wrote about the approval of the new sanctions package.

"EU ambassadors have just given green light to the EU’s 13th Russian sanctions package. Should be published just before the 24 feb anniversary (of the Russian invasion)," he said.

According to Reuters, the new package includes the addition of nearly 200 entities and individuals to the list, but does not include any new sectoral measures.

• According to Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Simonas Šatunas, the European Union should already be preparing the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, which will include restrictions on Russian nuclear energy, in particular, the state corporation Rosatom.