On Nov 1, Russia imposed sanctions on 322 Ukrainian nationals and 68 companies from Ukraine. Among the individuals and entities subject to sanctions there are judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation, major Ukrainian businessmen and their companies, Presidential Administration officials, and heads of executive bodies.
The history of how the sanctions list emerged remains rather strange. Experts say there were several factors that triggered it, but the most important thing is that it appeared after the so-called pension reform in Russia and the defeats the pro-Putin United Russia Party suffered in local elections across Russia's regions. In general, the sanctions were announced against the background of Putin and Medvedev's dropping personal ratings dropping to catastrophic levels (well, that's in their own understanding).
It is worth noting that Russia has always overcome its internal crises through external aggression. If we recall Putin's first election, there erupted the Second Russian-Chechen war, those weird explosions at apartment blocks in the Russian capital... Then, the Crimea annexation also took place ahead of the presidential elections in Russia... In the current situation, Ukraine is the best stimulus, since Putin's entire propaganda machine is working against Ukraine.
That is, Ukraine is Enemy No.1. Plus, it's very interesting that it was Mr Medvedev who drafted and promoted the sanctions list. It was his reputation that suffered the most after the introduction in Russia of "pension reform" (de facto, this is not a reform, but simply the retirement age rise amid a shrinking budget).
Also, let's recall how they presented the list: 'We want to impose sanctions against Ukrainian politicians who act aggressively against Russia; and against those who make money in Russia.' That's if to say that these companies make huge profits in Russia while the situation there is disastrous…
This was the criteria for targeting Ukrainian businesses, it seems.
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