Britain today announced a new wave of sanctions for the "barbaric treatment of children in Ukraine" against Russians related to the forced removal and adoption of children. The new sanctions also affected the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, the British Foreign Office said.
"Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova came under sanctions for the forced removal and adoption of Ukrainian children; Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, also came under sanctions for his explicit support for Russian military aggression in Ukraine," the diplomatic office said.
According to the office, Lvova-Belova facilitated the forced removal of 2,000 Ukrainian children from Luhansk and Donetsk regions and organized a new policy to promote their forced adoption in Russia.
Kirill came under sanctions for supporting and endorsing Putin's war.
On Thursday, sanctions were also reportedly imposed on Putin's allies, warlords and arms dealers from Russia and Myanmar.
For example, Sergei Savostyanov, a member of the Moscow City Duma and a member of Putin's political elite, was sanctioned for publicly supporting Putin's war in Ukraine.
Alexei Isaikin, president and member of the board of directors of Volga-Dnepr Group, a Russian transportation company contracted by the Russian government to build air bridges to carry important cargo, was sanctioned.
Four colonels from the 64th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade, a unit known for committing atrocities in Bucha, were also sanctioned for the brigade's role in Ukraine.
Members of the so-called "Committee to Save Peace and Order," an organization cooperating with the Russian army to support the occupation of the Kherson region, were also sanctioned.
On June 2, European Union diplomats finally adopted the bloc's sixth package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
According to media reports, the EU agreed to remove Patriarch Kirill from the EU's list of sanctioned individuals because of Hungary's position.