Iosif Kobzon appears on EU 'blacklist'
The European Union has expanded its blacklist for the Russian Federation, including 19 physical and nine legal entities, BBC reports. The EU believes these people are responsible for destabilizing the situation in the east of Ukraine. The newly sanctioned individuals include three top military officials: Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s First Defense Minister, Army General Arkady Bakhin, and the head of the main Operation Directorate of General Staff, Lieutenant General Andrey Kartapolov. Two members of the Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, singer Iosif Kobzon and Valery Rashkin, who heads the Russian Communist Party branch in Moscow, are also on the list. The remaining 14 people are officials of the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine.
