Russia imposes sanctions on nine Ukrainian companies

Russia has expanded a list of firms that it targets with penalties, and has imposed economic sanctions against nine Ukrainian companies.

The companies targetted by "special economic measures" under the new Russian decree, which was published late on Friday, include Ukrainian vessel maker Craneship, towage firm Donmar, cargo operator Transship and metal producer Maxima Metal.

Ukraine had earlier banned coronavirus vaccines produced by rival Russia despite struggles to launch its vaccination campaign. 

A resolution passed by the government on February 8 and posted on its website on Wednesday banned the registration of vaccines from 'aggressor states', a designation Ukraine has applied to Russia since 2015. 

Ukraine has been fighting separatists backed by Russia in its Donetsk and Lugansk regions since 2014 following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. 

The two countries have been at loggerheads since 2014 when Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and backed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies Kiev's charges that its military was involved in the conflict.

Western countries have imposed a range of sanctions since then on Russia, which has retaliated with its own measures.

In a sign of further strains in Russia's relations with the West, Moscow said on Friday it was ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions, a statement that Germany described as disconcerting and incomprehensible.