Ukraine crisis: EU sanctions target 15 individuals
The European Union has imposed sanctions related to the crisis in Ukraine on another 15 people, bringing the total number targeted to 48, CNN reported.
The EU said the people are collectively responsible for actions that "undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."
The targets include Dmitry Kozak, Russia's deputy prime minister; Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov; and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, including Denis Pushilin, the self-declared leader of the "Donetsk People's Republic."
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was alarmed by the worsening security situation in eastern Ukraine, and she called on Russia to take "concrete steps" in support of an international deal signed this month aimed at easing tensions.
She warned that if necessary, the European Union "will look at possible additional individual measures" related to the crisis.
Ashton also condemned an attack on the mayor of Kharkiv on Monday and the continued detention by pro-Russian militants of a team of military observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
"All persons still illegally detained by armed groups in eastern Ukraine need to be immediately released," she said.