EU to impose sanctions against eight Russians over captured Ukrainian sailors

Eight people, who are considered to be involved in the seizure of Ukrainian military near the Kerch Strait in November 2018, expect freezing of accounts and a ban on entry into the EU, Radio Liberty reported.

The list of persons subject to new sanctions will be published in the coming weeks.

The ambassadors also agreed to extend the existing sanctions against 163 individuals and 44 legal entities responsible for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. They will be officially extended in early March.

On November 25, 2018, Russian border ships in the Kerch Strait fired on and seized three Ukrainian warships that sailed from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Twenty-four Ukrainian sailors were captured.

After Russian-controlled "courts" in Crimea ruled to arrest the captured sailors, they were all taken to Moscow.

All of them called themselves prisoners of war.

On January 15 and 16, Moscow's Lefortovo District Court ruled to extend the arrest of captive Ukrainian sailors for three months. The lawyers of Ukrainian sailors challenged the ruling.

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