Ukraine invasion: EU blacklists Putin’s daughters, 214 others

The European Union blacklisted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters and more than 200 other people as part of its latest sanctions package over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to an official list published late Friday.

Those on the list, which additionally included 18 companies, face asset seizures and travel bans in the 27-nation European Union.

The United States and Britain had already sanctioned Putin’s two daughters: Maria Vorontsova and Katerina (or Ekaterina) Tikhonova, born in 1985 and 1986 respectively.

Their mother is the Russian leader’s ex-wife Lyudmila, whose divorce from Putin was announced in 2013.

The Kremlin had kept details of Putin’s daughters’ lives a closely guarded secret.

EU member states had already agreed to their inclusion earlier this week but their blacklisting only took effect late Friday with the publication in the European Union’s Official Journal, which requires translation work to be made available in 24 languages.

A total of 216 individuals were added to the EU’s blacklist, including Putin’s offspring.

Other notable entries were: Herman Gref, the head of Russia’s biggest listed bank, Sberbank; oligarch Oleg Deripaska who owns arms factories; defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov; more members of the ultra-wealthy Rotenberg family close to Putin; and the members of the political administrations running separatist Russian-backed enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

The EU said Vorontsova was on the list because she was co-owner of Nomenko, a company “involved in Russia’s largest private investment project in healthcare”. She was thus deemed to benefit from the Russian government and was involved in a sector providing its revenue.

She is reportedly married to a Russian-born Dutch businessman, according to media reports.

The EU list had her sister Tikhonova included because “she currently heads the Innopraktika development initiative, funded by key Russian companies whose directors are members of the inner circle of oligarchs close to President Putin”. She was also therefore seen to benefit from the Kremlin and be involved in providing its revenue.

The European Union has already imposed an asset freeze on Putin himself over the invasion of Ukraine as it tries to ratchet up pressure on the Russian president and his inner circle over the invasion of Ukraine.

The EU’s latest package of sanctions bans imports of Russian coal, blocks Russian ships from entering European ports, and expands sanctions on Russia’s financial sector and on trade.