Putin’s two adult daughters are targeted in this round of sanctions because the US believes he may be hiding some of his assets with them, an official says

The US is taking additional actions to increase economic pressure on Russia and President Vladimir Putin following horrific images from the Ukrainian city of Bucha, announcing new sanctions Wednesday on Russian financial institutions, as well as some people, including Putin’s adult daughters and the wife and daughter of his foreign minister. 

Sberbank holds nearly one-third of Russia’s total banking sector assets, the official noted, adding that the US has now fully blocked “more than two-thirds of the Russian banking sector.”  

Second, the senior official announced, “In alignment with the G7 and the EU, we’re announcing a ban on new investment in Russia.” That will be implemented with an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden. 

The administration is also putting full blocking sanctions on a new set of Russian elites and their family members, including Putin’s adult daughters Mariya Putina and Katerina Tikhonova, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter and members of Russia’s Security Council, including former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The US has already sanctioned more than 140 oligarchs and their family members and over 400 Russian government officials, the senior official said. 

The US will also apply full blocking sanctions on critical major Russian state-owned enterprises, which will be announced by the Department of Treasury on Thursday. The official also noted Tuesday’s announcement that the Department of Treasury has blocked Russia from making debt payments with dollars stockpiled at US banks. 

The senior official noted the crippling effect of US measures on the Russian economy since its invasion of Ukraine. 

“Russia’s GDP is projected to shrink by double digits this year… It’s not in the process of being isolated as a pariah state. The economic shock this year alone is projected by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to wipe out the past 15 years of economic gains,” the official said. 

Pressed about the efficacy of sanctions in ending Putin’s war in Ukraine, the senior official sought to underscore the effect they are having on life in Russia and said Putin would eventually have to reckon with his people. 

“The question really is not so much: What can we do and when will that have an effect? I think it’s: What’s the endgame here for Putin? What’s he playing for?” the official added. “This is very clearly becoming a failure for him and at some point he will have to recognize that reality.”

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday the Justice Department had successfully disrupted of a botnet, or a network of infected devices, that was being controlled by the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU. 

Garland touted the disruption among several actions the Justice Department has taken against the Russian regime that he highlighted at news conference with Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, FBI Director Chris Wray and other DOJ officials.

Garland also announced that that the Department was charging Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev with sanctions violations.  

“As the indictment charges, the Treasury Department previously identified Malofeyev as one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea, and for providing material support for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic,” Garland said. “After being sanctioned by the United States, Malofeyev attempted to evade the sanctions by using co-conspirators to surreptitiously acquire and run media outlets across Europe.” 

The new actions come in addition to a yacht — owned by another Kremlin tied oligarch facing sanctions, Viktor Vekselberg — that was seized earlier this week. 

Additionally, Garland said Wednesday, the department, in coordination with its German law enforcement partners, seized the “Russia-affiliated Hydra darknet market — the world’s largest illegal marketplace on the dark web.” Charges had been brought, according to Garland, against a Russian national who allegedly administered the market’s technical infrastructure.

Although Russia is now concentrating its assault on eastern Ukraine, NATO has seen “no indication” that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim of controlling the whole country has changed, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting in Brussels of foreign ministers of NATO allies, Stoltenberg also warned the war in Ukraine could last for years.

The foreign ministers of NATO countries are meeting Wednesday and Thursday to discuss ramping up support for Ukraine.

Kyiv has been calling for tanks and fighter jets on top of the defense systems already provided by the West.

“I will not go into all details of exactly what kind of weapons equipment allies are providing, but I can say the totality of what the allies are doing is significant, and that includes some heavier systems combined with lighter systems,” Stoltenberg said.

He warned the Ukraine war will have long term security implications for Europe regardless of when it ends. 

At least 1,563 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The UN agency has recorded 3,776 civilian casualties in Ukraine so far: 1,563 killed and 2,213 injured, it said in its latest update posted Wednesday. 

It listed Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Popasna (Luhansk region), and Borodianka (Kyiv region) as examples of places where there have been “allegations of numerous civilian casualties.”

On Tuesday, OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell spoke of the UN’s condemnation of images that emerged last weekend of civilian bodies strewn across the town of Bucha, saying they showed “all the signs” that civilians “were directly targeted and directly killed.” 

At least 89 people have been killed, including four children, and 167 homes damaged in Kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Kyiv City State Administration wrote in a statement on a verified Telegram page on Wednesday.

Another 398 people, including 20 children, were injured in the war.  

Since Feb. 24, Russian troops have damaged 44 schools, 11 administrative buildings, 26 kindergartens and an orphanage.

In addition to that, two sports facilities, five social facilities, 17 health care facilities, 10 cultural facilities and 48 facilities of transport infrastructure were hit by Russian attacks. 

The administration urged its residents not to lose vigilance and to take shelter at the first signs of air alarms.  

Those who left the capital are asked to refrain from returning for the time being.

The US is expected to announce it is sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adult children when it rolls out the new sanctions package today, according to sources familiar with the package.  

CNN reported last night that the US could apply sanctions on Putin’s adult children as early as Wednesday, according to a western official familiar with the plans. Putin has acknowledged two adult daughters.

The Biden administration is also eyeing an expansion of sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, and Alfa Bank, another large lender, the official said.

France has called the deaths of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, “a new step in horror” and has vowed to ensure such an act “does not remain unpunished.”

France is also in favor of a tougher sanctions regime against Russia, French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said during a news conference on Wednesday.

“After these massacres, we must go further,” he said. “President [Macron] has told President Zelensky that we have no taboos in terms of sanctions, and he repeated that we are ready for drastic measures on imports of Russian coal and oil.”

Asked by a journalist why France wasn’t blocking natural gas imports from Russia, Attal said that sanctions were “being discussed and worked on at the European level,” and added that it is easier for “us French who only depend on it for 20% [of energy needs] than for other countries who depend on it for 50, 60 or even 100% of theirs.” 

France “has always said that we are in favor of taking sanctions to the maximum level possible, and dialogue continues at the European level,” he said. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Wednesday about the economic shockwaves set off by the war in Ukraine, including disruptions to the flow of food and energy.

The war – and the West’s response – have already sent food and energy prices soaring and have raised concerns about an economic slowdown or even recession.

Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen described Russia’s invasion as “brutal and unprovoked” and emphasized the Treasury Department is committed to holding Russia “accountable for its actions.”

“Globally, spillovers from the crisis are heightening economic vulnerabilities in many countries that are already facing higher debt burdens and limited policy options as they recover from Covid-19,” Yellen said.

The Treasury secretary noted that Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly one-third of the world’s wheat exports.

Yellen said Treasury will press multilateral development banks to speed up food aid to “vulnerable” countries.

Energy prices have been driven higher by concerns about supply from Russia, the No. 1 exporter of crude oil in the world. 

“We are witnessing the vulnerability that comes from relying on one fuel source or one trade partner,” Yellen said, which is why it is imperative to diversify energy sources and suppliers.

European ambassadors are meeting in Brussels to debate the European Commission’s proposal on new sanctions against Russia.

According to an EU source, there is an agreement to adopt this package very quickly, but there are a lot of technical questions, which “is normal as it is a very dense package,” according to the source.

The source said that the ambassadors are going to work with member states all day and are expected to meet again tomorrow to examine some adjustments with the aim of reaching an agreement as soon as possible.

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a fifth package of sanctions against Russia, which aims to “cut even deeper into the Russian economy.”

The proposed measures include among other things an import ban on coal from Russia worth 4 billion euros per year (or about $4.3 billion).