Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing Russia to target Ukrainian companies and individuals with sanctions in response to Ukrainian sanctions against Russia, the Kremlin website reported on Monday.
The decree was issued as “a response to unfriendly actions of Ukraine” related to the introduction of sanctions against citizens and legal entities of Russia, as well as “in order to protect national interests," according to the website.
The Russian government was ordered to “determine the lists of individuals and legal entities in respect of which special economic measures are applied”, and “identify special economic measures applicable to individuals and legal entities.”
Since February 2014, Ukraine has imposed sanctions against 1,228 Russian individuals and 468 legal entities. They include Russian officials, politicians, business leaders and journalists. Kiev has also banned several Russian media outlets and TV channels.
In 2017, Ukraine also imposed sanctions on Russian internet and media companies including Mail.ru Group, Yandex, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, as well as antivirus software manufacturers Kaspersky Lab and Doctor Web.
Kiev first imposed sanctions against Moscow four years ago over Russia’s reunification with the Crimea. Ukraine also accused Russia of supporting an armed uprising in eastern Ukraine following the Maidan protests that led to the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the conflict.
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