AP
Washington Hispanic:
The administration of US President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and people from President Vladimir Putin's circle on Thursday, as the attack by Russian forces in Ukraine continues.
Among those sanctioned are Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, and Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, one of the country's richest men and a close Putin ally. The State Department announced that it has imposed a visa ban on 19 oligarchs, their families and close associates.
“These individuals and their families will see their access to the US financial system cut off. His assets in the United States will be frozen and the use of his properties will be blocked," the White House said in a statement.
The White House described Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, as "a major purveyor of Putin's propaganda."
The US government will block the use of properties owned by Usmanov and others in the United States and by Americans. His assets include his superyacht, one of the largest in the world, which has just been seized by Germany. Usmanov's private jet, one of Russia's largest private jets, is also covered by the sanctions.
Other targets of the sanctions announced Thursday include oligarchs Nikolai Tokarev, Arkady Rotenberg, Sergei Chemezov, Igor Shuvalov and Yevgeniy Prigozhin, as well as members of their families.
US Treasury Undersecretary Wally Adeyemo claimed on Thursday that the Biden administration would continue to target Russian elites as it applies sanctions against the country.
He assured that the elites are already "trying to get their money out of Russia, because the Russian economy is contracting."
“We are going to make it difficult for them to use the assets in the future,” Adeyemo warned during an event organized by The Washington Post. He added: "So our goal is to find that money, freeze it and confiscate it."
