After the United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova, the European Union quickly followed suit. 

The move aims to target Russia’s economy and oligarchs to retaliate against the country’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, according to EU officials.

“These latest sanctions were adopted following the atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Bucha and other places under Russian occupation,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat. 

“The aim of our sanctions is to stop the reckless, inhuman and aggressive behavior of the Russian troops and make clear to the decision makers in the Kremlin that their illegal aggression comes at a heavy cost,” Borrell said, according to AP.

The EU’s move comes just two days after the United States imposed sanctions on Putin’s daughters.

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The sanctions imposed by the United States

Addressing a crowd in Washington, US President Joe Biden said that the White House will continue to raise the “economic cost and ratchet up the pain for Putin.”

“We will keep raising the economic cost and ratchet up the pain for Putin and further increase Russia’s economic isolation,” Biden said in the speech.

“Look, these oligarchs and their family members are not allowed to hold on to their wealth in Europe and the United States and keep these yachts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, their luxury vacation homes while children in Ukraine are being killed, displaced from their homes every single day,” he added.

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The new measures come as a direct response to Russia’s war crimes and the recent killing spree in Ukraine‘s Bucha.

The sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom imposed travel bans and froze the assets of Putin’s daughters. By doing so, the UK is blocking reservoirs of cash that fund the conflict, while simultaneously hitting Putin’s allies with the consequences of siding with a cold tyrant.