UK announces new sanctions against Russia 

The UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, has today announced 14 new sanctions in response to Russia’s attempts to destroy Ukrainian national identity, including 11 against those involved in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, Report informs, citing the UK government’s website.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the Foreign Secretary’s speech at the UN Security Council (UNSC), where he will highlight the far-reaching implications of Russia’s war, call on Russia to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and outline the need for a just, lasting peace in Ukraine.

Among the designations announced today are Russian officials Ksenia Mishonova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Moscow Region, and Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of Russia.

This latest package of designations follows the UK’s sanctioning of Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in June 2022 for her alleged involvement in the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children.

Also sanctioned today are 2 Russian propagandists responsible for spreading abhorrent propaganda designed to incite violence and hatred towards Ukraine and its people, including Anton Krasovsky, a former Russia Today presenter, who claimed live on air that Ukrainian children should be drowned and burned.

Olga Lyubimova, the Russian Culture Minister, is additionally targeted for using her position to support the Russian state’s damaging anti-Ukrainian policies.