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EU’s ninth round of sanctions against Moscow will hit pro-war Russian media guilty of “gravely distorting and manipulating facts,” as well as popular TV presenters and writers who “associate the West and Ukraine with godlessness and the devil,” EUobserver online newspaper reported on Dec. 12, citing a draft.
The broadcasting license of three Russian TV channels – NTV/NTV Mir, Rossiya 1, and REN TV – are to be revoked while 144 individuals, including TV presenters Boris Korchevnikov and Marina Kim are to appear on EU’s new blacklist, according to EUobserver.
Among the individuals included in the EU’s blacklist draft was Sergey Mikheev, who promoted Kremlin’s anti-Ukraine propaganda, EUobserver said.
When disclosing details of the EU’s ninth sanction draft, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Dec. 7 said that it will target “the Russian propaganda machine by taking four additional channels off the air and all other distribution platforms.” She did not elaborate further.
The EU official said then that the proposed sanction list was expanded by “almost 200 individuals and entities,” which would include the Russian Armed Forces, individual officers, and defense companies, as well as political parties and ministers.
“Two daughters and a cousin of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov” are also among the targeted, according to EUobserver.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had called on the EU last week to “impose stiff sanctions on Russia’s missile production and anything used to launch deadly missiles at Ukraine.
”The online newspaper, however, said that the draft could be adjusted with EU foreign ministers due to hold talks on Dec. 12.
EU approved its eighth sanction package on Oct. 5, after which new trade restrictions were introduced to curb Russia’s revenue to fund its war against Ukraine.
