The sanctions affect vital sectors of the russian economy, further weakening the regime's ability to conduct an illegal, unprovoked, and unjustified aggressive war against Ukraine, according to a statement on the EU Council website on February 24.
The EU has suspended broadcasting licenses for eight Russian media outlets: EADaily / Eurasia Daily, Fondsk, Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation, and Krasnaya Zvezda / Tvzvezda.
"These media outlets have played a significant role in promoting and supporting russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, as well as destabilizing neighboring countries, the EU, and its member states", - the statement notes.
The EU Council also approved individual sanctions against 48 individuals and 35 organizations responsible for actions that "undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine".
Sanctions are also imposed on 74 new vessels from the shadow fleet, originating from third countries. As a result, the total number of vessels subject to sanctions has reached 153.
For the first time, the EU also introduces a ban on transactions with credit or financial institutions based outside russia that use the "Financial Message Transfer System" (SPFS) of the Central Bank of russia. SPFS is a specialized financial messaging service developed by the Central Bank of russia to neutralize restrictive measures.
Additionally, the Council decided to extend the ban on providing specialized financial messaging services to 13 regional banks considered essential to russia's financial and banking system.
The Council also added 53 new entities to the list of those "directly supporting russia's military-industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine".