LAST UPDATE | 25 Feb 2023
NEW EU SANCTIONS over Russia’s war in Ukraine adopted today will target 121 individuals and entities, including Iranian drone manufacturers.
The measures, agreed late last night ahead of formal adoption today, are the 10th round of EU sanctions aimed at undercutting Russia’s finances and military supplies used in its invasion that started a year ago.
The successive round of EU measures are “the most far-reaching sanctions ever – depleting Russia’s war arsenal and biting deep into its economy,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
The 10th 🇪🇺 sanctions package targets russian military industry, propaganda & financial system. The pressure on russian aggressor must increase: we expect decisive steps against Rosatom & russian nuclear industry, more pressure on military & banking.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 25, 2023
The latest EU sanctions target an additional 96 Russian entities – businesses or state agencies – including another three Russian banks.
Seven Iranian entities are included this round, all manufacturers of self-exploding drones Russia has been using to strike Ukrainian targets including infrastructure and residential buildings.
An export ban on industrial goods to Russia is expanded to include dual-use items like electronics, specialised vehicles, machine parts, spare parts for trucks and jet engines, antennae, cranes, drones, rare earth materials, electronic circuits and thermal cameras.
Sanctions on Russia’s propaganda outlets were stepped up, with moves to suspend the broadcasting licences of the Arabic outlets of state-controlled media groups RT and Sputnik, which are already banned in Europe.
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has said his fighters have captured another village near Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut, the scene of the longest-running battle of Moscow’s year-long offensive.
Yevgeny Prigozhin said Wagner “took complete control” of the village of Yagidne, north of Bakhmut, in a statement released by his press service.
Yagidne lies on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut, less than two kilometres from the centre of the city, which has turned into a key political and symbolic prize in the battle to control the eastern Donbas region.
Prigozhin’s press service published a photograph showing masked, armed men holding a Wagner flag in front of the village’s entrance sign.
Wagner’s press service, quoted by Russia’s news agency TASS, accused Ukrainian troops of blowing up a dam near Bakhmut in order to slow the Russian advance.
AFP could not immediately verify the claim.
Moscow has been fighting to take Bakhmut for months, and sharp fault lines have emerged between Wagner and Russia’s army with Prigozhin accusing the military of not providing his fighters with the necessary ammunition.
Although capturing Bakhmut would be a major win for Moscow, its strategic value is contested.
A year ago, Russian troops sought to rapidly install a pro-Moscow regime in Ukraine but failed to conquer Kyiv and subsequently suffered defeats in northeastern and southern Ukraine.
Since October, Russia has pummelled Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, causing power shortages for millions during winter.
Ukraine’s military today reported 27 Russian airstrikes and 75 attacks from multiple rocket launchers in the most recent 24-hour spell.
It said Russian offensive efforts continue to be concentrated in Ukraine’s industrial east and north-east.
Despite the daily trials, many Ukrainians refuse to be cowed.
On eastern Ukraine’s frontline, morale remained high among Kyiv’s troops.
“God is helping us. Nobody thought that Ukraine would hold,” said a soldier who goes by the call sign “Cook” in the eastern region of Donetsk. “I know that miracles happen.”
Five wounded civilians were reported in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where territory is roughly split between Russian and Ukrainian control.
In the southern Kherson region, governor Oleksandr Prokudin also reported 83 Russian shelling attacks, with the regional capital, also called Kherson, hit nine times, and homes, a children’s nursery and a medical facility hit.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office reported three civilian hurt in the region.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced today that he would visit China in early April, urging Beijing to help “put pressure” on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking a day after Beijing called for urgent peace talks and released a plan to end the year-long conflict, Macron said: “the fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is a good thing”.
Yesterday, China released a 12-point position paper on the conflict calling for urgent peace talks and a “political settlement” to the Ukraine crisis.
Several Western powers rebuffed the proposals and also warned against Beijing’s close ties to Moscow.
Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral mediator in the conflict, while maintaining close ties with strategic ally Russia.
Russia has said it appreciated Beijing’s efforts to settle the conflict but that any solution should recognise Kremlin control over four Ukrainian regions.
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