The EU has announced sanctions against eight Russians over the Azov incident, in which the Russian Coast Guard attacked three Ukrainian ships in November. Sunday news from AFP circles in Brussels told the news agency AFP that the assets of the eight victims in the EU will be frozen and an entry ban will be imposed. On Monday, EU Foreign Ministers will give their approval at their meeting in Brussels.
At the end of November, the Russian Coast Guard had raided three Ukrainian ships that were on their way from the Black Sea through Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov. 24 Ukrainian seamen were arrested. It was the first direct military confrontation between Ukraine and Russia since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The names of the eight Russians against whom the sanctions are addressed should be announced as soon as the final decision is made. Because of the conflict over the Crimea and in eastern Ukraine, the EU has already put 164 Ukrainians and Russians and 44 organizations on their sanctions list. However, the EU states are at odds as to whether the conflict should also focus on the Russian economy.
