MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Switzerland announced Tuesday it has added 26 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and 18 organizations to the sanctions list, Reuters has reported.
The move raises the number of individuals affected by Swiss sanctions amid the Ukraine crisis to 87 and the number of entities to 20. The measures are to come into effect at 16:00 GMT (08:00 p.m. MSK).
The new names on the blacklist include Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Alexander Boroday, Donetsk People’s Republic Security Minister Alexander Khodakovsky, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.
The move comes despite the announcement of Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann on Sunday that Switzerland should not join the EU sanctions policy in relation to Russia, as it will undermine its role as a mediator in the Ukrainian conflict.
In an interview with Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper, Schneider-Ammann also noted that the restrictive measures imposed against Russia would affect Western companies and this would result in a domino effect, and as a result Switzerland’s economy would also suffer.
Following the July 17 deadly crash of the Malaysian passenger plane in eastern Ukraine, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia, which they claimed could be responsible for the tragedy.
According to authorities in Kiev, as well as the West, the plane was shot down by weapons supposedly "delivered" to independence supporters by Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly denied these allegations saying it never interfered with the Ukrainian internal affairs and stressed that the sanctions policy was unacceptable and counterproductive.
