OREANDA-NEWS. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, January 28, signed a decree on new sanctions against Russian citizens and companies. Thus, the Head of State put into effect the December decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine.

The list of specific individuals and legal entities is not provided. In addition, one of the provisions of the NSDC decision is classified. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine intends to inform the relevant authorities of the European Union, the United States and other countries about these sanctions, as well as «raise the issue of applying similar restrictive measures», the NSDC decision says.

Ukraine's sanctions against Russian citizens and companies came into force in 2014 in connection with Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and Russia's intervention in eastern Ukraine. Russia responded by taking similar measures. Both countries regularly update their sanctions lists.

Volodimir Zelensky is the founder of the political party «Servant of the People». Prior to being elected president, he was widely known as a comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He was the captain of the team «95-th quarter», and then the founder and artistic director of the studio «Quarter-95».