Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s son Ilya found himself among the nationals of Russia and Belarus sanctioned on Monday as part of the European Union’s 12th package of Ukraine-related measures against Moscow.
The 28-year-old appears to have been blacklisted solely due to his relation to Dmitry Medvedev, former president (2008-2012) and prime minister (2012-2020) and current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.
Also sanctioned were the 14 members of the Russian Central Election Commission, for their involvement in organizing the federal parliamentary elections in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye – four former regions of Ukraine that voted to join Russia last year, but which the EU considers “illegally occupied.”
Other notable names on the newest blacklist include two regional governors – Oleg Khorokhordin of Altai and Radiy Khabirov of the Republic of Bashkortostan – as well as Lieutenant-General Viktor Afzalov, who officially replaced Sergey Surovikin as head of the Russian Aerospace Forces in October; and Anna Tsivileva, chair of the ‘Defenders of the Fatherland’ fund, which supports families of Russian soldiers.
EU sanctions have also been expanded to several Belarusian nationals, including senior officials on the national Security Council in Minsk, Alexander Rakhmanov and Pavel Muraveyko.
Brussels has repeatedly declared its support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow. The latest round of sanctions prohibits EU member states from importing diamonds and certain metals and industrial components from Russia, as well as exporting certain technical products that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
The US and the EU imposed their measures with the stated objective of collapsing the Russian economy and triggering unrest in Moscow. Instead, Russia’s oil revenues rosealong with its trade with the rest of the world. President Vladimir Putin said last week that the West “shot itself in the foot” with the sanctions, as much of international trade has moved away from dollars and euros and towards settlements in national currencies.