U.S. Broadens Sanctions on Russia; Putin Places 65,000 Troops on Alert
KIEV, UKRAINE (Worthy News)– Over 65,000 Russian troops were placed on combat alert and ordered to take part in readiness drills by Russian President Vladmir Putin. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions against seven separatists with broader measures being readied against finance, defense, and technology industries, Bloomberg reported.
The Russian drill is the biggest since the country annexed the Black Sea Crimean peninsula in March. The U.S. has accused the government in Moscow of aiding the separatists and this week imposed sanctions on people linked to the insurgency.
Putin put troops in Russia’s central military region on full combat alert and ordered them to take part in a test of military readiness that is to last through June 28 and will also involve 5,500 pieces of military equipment, Vladimir Anikin, a spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry, said by phone.
The U.S. and the EU have imposed sanctions on people and companies close to Putin, while threatening the government in Moscow with unspecified economic penalties as pro-Russian separatists clash with Ukrainian forces. — Source