BRUSSELS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Union(EU) on Friday added three persons and three companies to a sanction list targeting Russian individuals and entities.
The persons and companies will face an asset freeze and a travel ban in the EU for "their responsibility in supplying Crimea with (four) gas turbines from Russia", according to a statement released by the Council of the EU.
The gas turbines were originally sold by German company Siemens for use in other parts of Russia, but were then clandestinely transferred to Crimea, which rejoined Russia in 2014 following a referendum.
The EU "didn't recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation", instead it slapped a set of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban of supplying of key equipment for infrastructure projects in Crimea and Sevastopol in important sectors.
A total of 153 persons and 40 entities are now on the EU sanction list in the wake of the Council's latest decision.
Siemens announced in late July that it would halt deliveries of power generation equipment to Russian state-controlled entities after its turbines were found in Crimea.
Siemens said that it had received "credible information" that all four gas turbines, which it delivered to southern Russia last year, had been "locally modified and illegally moved to Crimea."
