The United States and Canada have announced sanctions against Russian officials and companies for aggression against Ukraine

The United States announced this Friday coordinated sanctions with Canada against Russian officials involved in the naval attack against three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, perpetrated on November 25 last.

In addition, sanctions will also be provided against six defense companies Russian companies, including shipping companies, two people involved in the "electoral joke" of the eastern part of Ukraine controlled by Russia and two Russian companies of energy and of construction operating in Crimea.

"In the five years since the beginning of Russia's aggression campaign against Ukraine, we have stood firm with our transatlantic partners to oppose the evil and illegal actions of Russia", State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.We demand that Russia immediately return the captured Ukrainian vessels and their crew and to leave the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea free of transit from the Ukrainian ports. We also ask him to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity, with its internationally recognized borders, including its territorial waters. "

The announcement made by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (OFAC) announced that the Russian officials sanctioned are:

Gennadiy Medvedev, Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service.

Sergey StankevichDirector of the Border Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service.

Andrey Shein, Deputy Director of the Border Council.

Ruslan RomashkinHead of the service of the command points of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.

The sanctions also hit two Ukrainian separatists, Aleksey Alekseevihc Naydenko and Vladimir Yurievich Vysotsky, for participating in the organization of the illegitimate elections of November 2018.