US sanctions Putin's spokesman, other elites, blocks oligarchs and relatives from traveling to US
The U.S. announced new sanctions Thursday against members of the Russian elite, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, and said it would block 19 oligarchs and 47 of their relatives and close associates from traveling to the U.S.
The U.S. will put full-blocking sanctions on eight members of the Russian elite, as well as 17 of their relatives, 12 of their companies, two of their jets and one super-yacht, banning them from the U.S. financial system.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as well as one of Russia’s richest men, Alisher Usmanov, are among the eight sanctioned, according to the White House.
Germany had already seized Usmanov’s super-yacht, and the White House said both the boat and Usmanov’s private jet – which it said was one of the largest privately-owned aircraft in Russia – would be blocked for use in the U.S. or by Americans.
The U.S. also put visa restrictions on 19 Russian oligarchs and on 47 of their relatives and close associates, blocking them from obtaining U.S. visas and traveling to the U.S.
The U.S. also imposed full-blocking sanctions on seven Russian entities and 26 Russian and Ukraine-based people engaging in disinformation.
-ABC News' Ben Gittleson