Brussels has offered to sanction former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva for her role in Kremlin “propaganda” and her “close” ties to President Vladimir Putin, according to a document seen by AFP on Thursday.
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She is among a new list of people at risk of an EU entry ban and asset freeze, under a sixth package of EU sanctions currently under discussion, in response to the war in Ukraine.
The media have attributed to the Russian president a relationship with Alina Kabaeva for years, which Vladimir Putin denied in 2008.
AFP
Alina Kabaeva “is the chairman of the board of directors of the National Media Group (NMG), a holding company that owns significant shares in almost all the main Russian federal media outlets that reproduce Russian government propaganda”, notes the European Service for external action.
The ex-gymnast and former member of the Duma is “closely associated with President Vladimir Putin”, adds the document.
According to a recent article by Wall Street Journalwhich quotes US officials, Alina Kabaeva is described by a confidential US intelligence report as a beneficiary of Vladimir Putin’s fortune.
AFP
Three other people, working for the state agency Ria Novosti and qualified as “propagandists”, are also on the list submitted to member states on Wednesday by the service of the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
These four names are added to those of 58 people — including the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, numerous Russian soldiers suspected of “war crimes” in Boutcha and members of the family of the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov–, whom Brussels proposed on Tuesday to put on the European blacklist.
AFP
European sanctions, taken since 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, already concern 1,091 people and 80 entities.
The sixth package of sanctions under discussion provides for a gradual embargo on Russian oil, the exclusion of the most important Russian bank, Sberkank (37% of the market) and two other establishments of the international financial system Swift, as well as the prohibition of broadcasting of three Russian TV channels, including Russia 24 and Russia RTR.
The unanimity of the Twenty-Seven is required for the adoption of sanctions.
