European Union names 2 Russian spin doctors as latest Ukraine sanctions targets

BRUSSELS – The European Union is extending sanctions to cover 11 leaders of the pro-Moscow rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

Targets of the asset freeze and travel ban include two Russian spin doctors, Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, and his counterpart in the Luhansk People's Republic, Marat Bashirov.

The names were published Saturday in the EU's Official Journal. It brought the total of people affected by the EU's Ukraine-related sanctions to 72, as well as two companies whose EU-based assets have been ordered frozen.

Also on the new list were two men identified as rebel military leaders: Nikolai Kozitsyn, commander of Cossack forces, and Alexei Mosgovy, responsible for military training.

The EU Official Journal said the sanctions, agreed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday, go into effect Saturday.