On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives supported a bill introduced by a group of lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican parties calling on the Joe Biden administration to impose sanctions against nearly 200 Russians involved in supporting Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
According to Yevropeiska Pravda, this was stated by one of the bill's authors – Democratic congressman Tom Malinovsky.
The draft law on corrupt practices provides for restrictions on Russian citizens involved in supporting Putin's regime. Their list was prepared by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which is headed by imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny.
Among these Russians are businessman Roman Abramovich, head of RT Margarita Simonyan, TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Alexey Kudrin, director Nikita Mikhalkov, State Duma deputy Valentina Tereshkova and others.
If the bill is adopted, the Biden administration should analyze whether these individuals are included in the sanctions list and if not, either do so or explain to Congress why such a step cannot be taken.
"With this bill, we send a clear bipartisan signal that Congress supports the Ukrainian people and those brave Russians who asked us to take action against those who allow Putin to commit corrupt actions," Malinovsky commented.
It is noted that the bill was supported by such organizations as Transparency International US, Freedom House, Free Russia Foundation, Razom for Ukraine, the Ukrainian Congress Committee and the Freedom Forum of Belarus.
Now the document must also be endorsed by the Senate and signed by the US President.
Also, the United Kingdom and Canada have already added the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, to the sanctions list.