The sanctions, which are based on accusations of human rights violations, would target Russian officials including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov, and others.
In total, 35 Russian citizens are subject to the proposed sanctions. The list of civil servants also includes Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, Deputy Defence Minster Andrei Kartapolov, Central Electoral Commission head Ella Pamfilova, head of the Economic Security Service's transport department Victor Gavrilov, Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov, presidential administration head and first deputy head, Anton Vaino and Sergei Kirienko, Khimki District Judge Elena Morozova, Khimki Police Department Chief Igor Yanchuk, Chief Prosecutor of Moscow Denis Popov, National Guard head Victor Zolotov, Chelyabinsk FSB head Dmitry Ivanov, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyev, St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, former Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, and lawmaker Pavel Krasheninnikov.
23 September 2021, 05:29 GMT
Businessmen are also among those subject to sanctions, including Roman Abramovich, Alisher Usmanov, Oleg Deripaska, and Gennady Timchenko, the president and deputy president of VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin and Denis Bortnikov, Chairman of the State Development Corporation VEB Igor Shuvalov, as well as media personalities — Russian Union of Journalists Chair Vladimir Solovyev, Chief Executive Officer of Channel One TV station Konstantin Ernst, and Editor-in-Chief of RT Margarita Simonyan
Additionally, it includes top and senior officials at key energy companies — Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom Alexei Miller, Chairman of the Management Board of Rosneft Igor Sechin, and Chairman of Transneft Nikolai Tokarev.
The amendment, put forward by Representative Tom Malinowski, would give Biden up to 180 days to submit to Congress a determination about whether the list of officials meet the criteria for the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The complete draft defence budget legislation has yet to pass both houses of Congress and the decision to impose sanctions still ultimately rests with the Biden administration if the measure is passed.