Putin, Peskov, Mishustin, Margarita Simonyan: US Prepares Sanctions Against 35 Russians

The US House of Representatives Rules Committee has approved a bill recommending sanctions against 35 Russian officials, businessmen, and journalists who, according to Washington, are associated with human rights violations.

Key figures on the list include Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov, National Guard Director Viktor Zolotov, Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

Additionally, the new US sanctions may target businessmen Roman Abramovich, CEO of Rosneft Igor Sechin, Gazprom head Alexey Miller, chief editor of Russia Today and Rossiya Segodnya Margarita Simonyan, and First Channel General Director Konstantin Ernst, among others.

The text of the amendment was proposed by Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski. He suggests that after the law is passed, US President Joe Biden must present a conclusion to the relevant congressional committees within 180 days on whether any of the mentioned individuals should be included in the sanctions list under the Magnitsky Act.

The bill was submitted as an amendment to the draft of the country’s 2022 defense budget. It still requires approval from the full US Congress and will be advisory in nature even then. The imposition of sanctions remains at the discretion of the American administration.