LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – The British government said on Thursday it had made 14 additions to its list of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including media organisations and senior figures within them.
Britain is acting in concert with Western allies to try to cripple the Russian economy as punishment for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and has sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals and businesses, including in industries like shipping and defence, and wealthy elites close to President Vladimir Putin.
Among those santioned on Thursday were senior figures from media outlets including RT’s managing director Alexey Nikolov, Sergey Brilev, a prominent news anchor at the state-owned Rossiya Television and Radio network, and Sputnik’s Editor-in-Chief Anton Anisimov.
Russia’s Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre Mikhail Mizinitsev was also added to the list, which said he had been “responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol”.
On Wednesday Britain put in place new legal powers to prohibit maintenance on aircraft and ships belonging to specific sanctioned Russian oligarchs or their businesses.
Britain’s latest round of sanctions against Russia was designed to tackle those pushing state propaganda, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday.
“Putin’s war on Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies,” Truss said in a statement.
“Britain has helped lead the world in exposing Kremlin disinformation, and this latest batch of sanctions hits the shameless propagandists who push out Putin’s fake news and narratives.”
