Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) on Monday sanctioned an additional 22 Russians and banned travel abroad “for vacations or other non-governmental purposes” by Ukrainian authorities, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
The foreign travel measure applies to “all employees of the central government and various other administrative levels” and “to agents of the law, representatives of the people, prosecutors and all those who worked for the state and in the state”Zelensky explained in his usual evening speech to the nation.
“If they want to rest now, they will rest from public service. Employees will no longer be able to travel abroad for vacations or for other non-governmental purposes”emphasized the Ukrainian head of state.
The NSDC also decided to impose sanctions against 22 Russian citizens who “support terror and genocidal politics under the guise of spirituality”, with Zelensky guaranteeing that the state is strengthening and will continue to strengthen its “spiritual independence”.
Zelensky also noted that personnel decisions had been made regarding officials at various levels in ministries and other central government agencies, regions and the law enforcement system, without specifying which ones.
However, he guaranteed in the same message that “Ukraine will not show weakness” and “the state will not show weakness”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people — 6.5 million internally displaced persons and nearly eight million to European countries — according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 7,068 dead civilians and 11,415 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the actual ones.
Source: DN
