The draft new EU sanctions package contains measures against 144 Russian individuals, including celebrities, TV presenters and bloggers, the EUobserver portal reported .
The ninth package of sanctions includes restrictions on four members of the family of Vladimir Putin's friend Yuri Kovalchuk and his media assets – the National Media Group, which includes Channel One, REN TV, Channel Five, STS, Izvestia and other large media. The VGTRK, ANO TV-Novosti (RT) and the Strategic Culture Fund will also fall under the sanctions. The EU plans to revoke broadcasting licenses in the Union countries from NTV, NTV-Mir, Rossiya 1 and REN TV, writes EUobserver.
Restrictions will also affect director Nikita Mikhalkov, presenters Boris Korchevnikov, Marina Kim and Sergey Mikheev, singer Grigory Leps, writer and blogger Dmitry Puchkov.
On December 8, the Politico newspaper reported that the EU plans to suspend the licenses for broadcasting the NTV Mir, REN TV, Rossiya 1 and Channel One channels as part of the next package of anti-Russian sanctions.
In addition, the EU may impose sanctions against products of the aviation and space industries. The list may include aircraft engines and their parts, laptops, hard drives, cameras and lenses.
According to the publication, the restrictions will also affect 169 Russian organizations that supply goods that can be used to develop the defense and security sectors. The document is aimed at suppressing Russian industrial capabilities.
On December 7, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke about the ninth package of EU sanctions against Russia. She said that the EC proposes to include three banks and four TV channels in the new list. In addition, the European Commission intends to add "nearly 200 more people and businesses" to the sanctions list, von der Leyen said.