The United States tightened anti-Russian sanctions, blacklisting six individuals, and eight organizations affiliated with Russia, the U.S. Treasury Department said on March 15, 2019.

The sanctions lists includes Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Gennadiy Medvedev, head of the Service Command Point of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the republic of Crimea and Sevastopol Ruslan Romashkin, head of the Coast Guard Unit of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Andrei Shein, head of the Border Directorate of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Sergei Stankevich, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexey Naidenko, and the secretary of the DPR Central Election Commission Vladimir Vysotsky.

The U.S. has imposed restrictions on Russian companies Oceanpribor, Fiolent factory, Sudokomposite, New Projects, Consol-Stroy, Zvezda, the Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant, and the Zelenodolsk Gorky Plant.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, these individuals and legal entities “took part in unjustified Russian attacks on Ukrainian warships in the Kerch Strait.”

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on November 25, 2018 that Ukrainian warships, the Berdyansk, the Nikopol, and the Yany Kapu, had breached the Russian state border and later attempted to carry out illegal maneuvers in Russia’s territorial waters. The Ukrainian vessels ignored the legitimate demands of the Coast Guard of the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet to stop immediately and end their dangerous action.

The Ukrainian warships carried on, blatantly disregarding these orders, triggering a chase involving some gunfire to stop them.