By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department on Friday marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by sanctioning more than 60 top Russian officials, including cabinent ministers and regional leaders, and three enterprises that run the country’s nuclear weapons program.
The department said it also was imposing sanctions on scores of other Russian officials and entities and Russians involved in the theft of grain from Ukraine. It also slapped visa restrictions on more than 1,200 members of the Russian military in sweeping sanctions that were part of a larger U.S. action to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions targeted senior aides to Russian President Vladmir Putin, Olga Skabeyeva, a leading propagandist on state television, and Oleg Romanenko, who was appointed to oversee Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, seized in Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion.
The seizure of Europe’s largest nuclear power station has “only underscored the global concerns related to nuclear energy security and undermine the Kremlin’s efforts to portray itself as a responsible supplier of nuclear energy products,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.
“We remain committed to supporting the people of Ukraine and are redoubling our efforts to promote accountability for the Kremlin’s war,” said Blinken.
Tens of thousands of Ukranian civilians and troops have died in the war ignited by Russia’s invasion, millions have been driven from their homes and villages, towns and cities destroyed.
All of those sanctioned were being targeted under an executive order authorizing “sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities” of the Russian government, the department said.
Under the sanctions, any U.S. property owned by those designated or controlled on their behalves by a U.S. citizen are blocked.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
