The European Council of the European Union reports that they have added seven persons to the list of those subject to “restrictive measures” over “actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” These new designations come as a consequence of the organisation of Russian local elections on 8 September 2019 in the illegally annexedAutonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol in Ukraine. Through their involvement in the elections, these people actively supported actions and implemented policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

The decision brings the total number of persons listed by the EU to 177. In addition, the EU imposed an asset freeze on 44 entities under this sanctions regime. The measures consist of an asset freeze, meaning that all of the assets in the EU belonging to these entities are frozen and EU persons and entities cannot make any funds available to them.

The legal acts, including the names of the persons concerned, are available in the EU Official Journal of 28 January 2020.

Other EU measures in place in response to the Ukraine crisis include:

• economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy, currently in place until 31 July 2020;
• restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, limited to the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, currently in place until 23 June 2020.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is still under attack from Russia:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Michael McKay reports that yesterday — [January 28, 2019] — “the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation attacked Ukrainian defenses 12 times. Novotoshkivske was hardest hit. The invaders fired heavy weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements. 2 Ukrainian soldiers were wounded by an exploding mine.”