EU to increase sanctions on Russia as Kremlin intensifies attacks on Ukraine

Russia is set to be slapped with fresh sanctions from the EU as the world continues to condemn Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine

According to reports, the European Union is expected to outline oil sanctions against Russia on Wednesday following increasing bombardment by Kremlin troops across Ukraine.

Russia’s forces have this week pounded targets in eastern Ukraine, unleashing rockets on a steel plant that is the last redoubt of resistance in Mariupol, a port city of Ukraine.

Large numbers of evacuees who managed to leave the city under U.N. and Red Cross assistance, reached safer ground once they reached Ukraine-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday.

Those evacuees had been cowering for weeks in bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant.

New sanctions

Under new sanctions by the EU, Russia’s top lender Sberbank is expected to be targeted.

It’s expected that the bank will be disconnected from the SWIFT messaging system, while other sanctions under consideration are those that include imposing a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of this year.

The proposed measures will be presented to the 27 EU member states for approval on Wednesday.

Meanwhile US President Joe Biden has also urged Western nations to support Ukraine, emphasising how much US aid has helped Ukrainians in their fight against Russian aggression.