US and EU pile new sanctions on Russia for the Ukraine war’s 2nd anniversary and Navalny’s death

WASHINGTON — The United States and the European Union are piling new sanctions on Russia on the eve of the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony last week.

The US Treasury Department plans to impose more than 500 new sanctions on Russia and its war machine on Friday, in the largest round of punishments since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. They follow a series of new arrests and indictments on Thursday announced by the Justice Department targeting Russian businessmen, including the head of Russia’s second-largest bank, and their intermediaries in five separate federal cases.

The European Union announced Friday that it is imposing sanctions on several foreign companies over allegations that they exported dual-use goods to Russia that could be used in the war against Ukraine. The 27-nation bloc also said it was targeting dozens of Russian officials, including “members of the judiciary, local politicians and people responsible for the illegal deportation and military re-education of Ukrainian children.”

“The American people and people around the world understand that the stakes of this fight extend far beyond Ukraine,” President Joe Biden said in a statement announcing the sanctions. “If Putin does not pay the price for his death and destruction, he will continue. And the costs for the United States – along with our NATO allies and partners in Europe and around the world – will rise.”

The US would specifically target individuals involved in Navalny’s capture, a day after Biden met the opposition leader’s widow and daughter in California. It also hit “Russia’s financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders on multiple continents,” Biden said. “They will make Putin pay an even higher price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”

The EU’s asset freezes and travel bans are the thirteenth package of measures the bloc has imposed on people and organizations it suspects are undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Today we are further tightening restrictive measures against Russia’s military and defense sectors,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. “We remain united in our determination to damage the Russian war machine and help Ukraine win its legitimate struggle for self-defense.”

A total of 106 additional officials and 88 “entities” – often companies, banks, government agencies or other organizations – have been added to the bloc’s sanctions list, bringing the number of people and entities targeted to more than 2,000, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and its employees.

Companies making electronic components, which the EU believes could have both military and civilian applications, were among 27 entities accused of “directly supporting the Russian military and industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” according to a statement.

These companies – some of which are based in India, Sri Lanka, China, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Turkey – are facing stricter export restrictions. The names of the companies will only be made public once they are published in the EU Official Gazette, which should be a matter of days.

The bloc said the companies “have been involved in circumventing trade restrictions,” and accused others of “developing, producing and supplying electronic components” intended to help Russia’s armed forces.

Some measures aim to deprive Russia of parts for unmanned drones, which military experts see as key to the war.