Prominent Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, as well as high-profile Russians from the media world, are the targets of European Union sanctions, details of which are expected to be made public tomorrow.
Ukraine crisis: European sanctions target Vladimir Putin's inner circle as Ukraine vows to defend itself against any attack
It is unclear whether the final roster of targeted individuals could change before taking effect, but the list appears to have been compiled in coordination with US officials who were drawing up their own set of sanctions.
Two more prominent individuals on the list were Maria Zakharova, the director of the foreign ministry's Information and Press Department, who is the ministry's spokesperson; and Margarita Simonyan, who leads the television network RT.
The top Russian military leadership and senior executives with state-owned VTB bank, which itself was not listed, featured in the sanctions package, as did a number of other media personalities that the EU regards as "propagandists".
Yevgeny Prigozhin — a Russian businessman with close links to Putin who owns, among other things, the mercenary group Wagner — was included on the EU sanctions list alongside several members of his family.
The sanctions mean that the individuals will face travel bans to the EU, as well as asset freezes — although the asset freezes could be tricky to implement, given the willingness of European banking systems to conceal Russian wealth in complex ownership structures.
The sanctions package, which runs several hundred pages long, also includes bans on the import of dozens of goods and services, as well as an effective ban on Russia raising funds in European capital markets through short- and long-term bonds.
It comes as Ukraine braces for all-out conflict, with officials preparing to declare a 30-day state of emergency and mobilising military reservists.
"Our army is ready" to defend against an attack by Russian forces, said Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine's national security and defence council.
A day after Western officials said that more Russian troops had entered eastern Ukraine following Putin's decision to recognise the independence of two areas partly controlled by Russia-backed separatists, there was little immediate sign of a major military escalation.
But with Russia having built up 190,000 troops in and around Ukraine, according to US officials, the deployment of Russian troops across the border signalled what President Joe Biden on Tuesday called "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine".
On Wednesday, Australia, Canada and Japan joined the United States, European allies and other nations in announcing sanctions against Russia, whose actions Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada called "a threat to the security and stability of the region and the international rules-based order".
Putin remained defiant, saying in a video speech released on Wednesday that "the interests of Russia and the security of our citizens are unconditional for us".
Speaking on Defenders of the Fatherland Day, a holiday that celebrates Russia's armed forces, Putin did not explicitly mention Ukraine. But he repeated a refrain that has been familiar in the current crisis, blaming the "military activity of the NATO bloc" for the world's dangers and saying that Russia's calls to build an equitable system of international security "remain unanswered".
The Biden administration and European allies have warned that the sanctions imposed so far are only the beginning. Tougher penalties will be imposed "if Russia goes further with this invasion", Biden said on Tuesday.
But Russia's ambassador to Washington said that sanctions would hurt global financial and energy markets, creating pain for Americans as well, and that Russia would not "revise its foreign policy under a threat of restrictions".
"I don't remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the Western world," the ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, said on Facebook. "We have learned to work in such conditions. And not only to survive, but also to develop our state."
Russia's foreign minister said the country would evacuate its diplomats from Ukraine, citing "lawlessness" in the country since 2014 protests forced a pro-Moscow president from power. Video posted on social media Wednesday showed vehicles lined up outside the Russian consulate in Odessa, Ukraine, apparently waiting to leave the compound.
Across Europe, humanitarian groups warned that a further Russian invasion could plunge millions of people into a humanitarian emergency, possibly sending large numbers of refugees fleeing for safety toward European Union nations. The US military has sent 5000 troops to Poland, an EU member that borders Ukraine, to assist with possible arrivals.
The European commissioner for migration, Ylva Johansson, said during a visit to Poland on Tuesday that EU officials were making plans to deal with any large-scale arrival of Ukrainian refugees.
Written by: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Valerie Hopkins, Anton Troianovski and Shashank Bengali
Photographs by: Tyler Hicks, Lynsey Addario and Al Drago
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