US and EU pile new sanctions on Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and defence minister Sergei Shoigu take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden on Defender of the Fatherland Day, in Moscow, Russia (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The European Union and United States are piling new sanctions on Russia on the eve of the second anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the death of noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last week in an Arctic penal colony.

The US Treasury Department plans on Friday to impose more than 500 new sanctions on Russia and its war machine in the largest single tranche of penalties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022.