On March 17, 2014, the United States imposed visa restrictions and asset freezes on 11 Russian officials, among them Valentina Matviyenko, Dmitry Rogozin and Vladislav Surkov. The EU froze the assets of 21 officials the same day. Moscow answered within days by barring nine US officials, including John Boehner, Harry Reid and John McCain. That was the opening exchange of a sanctions contest that is still running.
2014: Crimea and the first economic measures
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s timeline shows how quickly names turned into sectors. By July 16, 2014, the US Treasury had sanctioned two major banks, Gazprombank and VEB, along with the energy companies Novatek and Rosneft and eight arms firms. On July 29 the EU restricted capital-market access for Russian state-owned banks, imposed an arms embargo and limited exports of dual-use goods and sensitive oil technology. Russia hit back on August 6 by banning most food imports from the countries that had sanctioned it. In September the US barred American companies from supplying goods and technology to Gazprom, Lukoil, Transneft, Gazprom Neft, Surgutneftegaz, Novatek and Rosneft, and restricted capital-market access for Sberbank, VTB and four other banks.
After that came years of renewal. The EU kept extending its listings by six months at a time, and the US extended its measures by a year. New targets arrived in smaller batches. In June 2017 the US sanctioned 38 individuals and entities, including the military company PMC Wagner. In 2018, after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, more than 20 Western states expelled dozens of Russian diplomats, 60 of them from the United States.
2022: the packages
The Council of the EU records the next phase package by package. The first, on February 23, 2022, targeted the 351 members of the Russian State Duma and an additional 27 individuals, and restricted Russia’s access to EU capital markets. The second froze the assets of Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov. The third, adopted on February 28, banned transactions with the Russian Central Bank. On March 2 the EU cut seven Russian banks off from SWIFT and suspended broadcasts by Sputnik and Russia Today.
The oil price cap came in December 2022. The Council set the cap on Russian crude at $60 per barrel, to apply from December 5, saying it would limit price surges and sharply cut the revenue Russia earns from oil. The Council has listed packages at a steady pace since. The 15th, adopted on December 16, 2024, brought sanctions on 54 individuals and 30 entities and a port ban on a further 52 vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet.
2026: still adding
The Council’s list is now past its twentieth entry. The 20th package, announced on April 23, 2026, targeted 120 individuals, laid the basis for a future maritime services ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products, and banned transactions with 20 Russian banks. The 21st, adopted on July 23, 2026, covered 48 individuals and 170 entities, a port ban on 41 more shadow-fleet vessels and a transaction ban on 33 additional Russian credit and financial institutions. It also paused the automatic adjustment of the oil price cap mechanism until July 15, 2027.
On October 12, 2026, the EU listed 826 companies in Russia’s military-industrial complex and 743 individuals who serve as their chief executives, which the Council described as its largest-ever package of listings, 1569 in all.
Sources
- A Timeline Of All Russia-Related Sanctions | RFE/RL
- Timeline – EU sanctions against Russia | Council of the EU
