BRUSSELS, September 12. /TASS/. The European Union has prolonged for six months individual restrictive measures against 170 citizens and 44 legal entities of Russia and Ukraine, the Council of the European Union said in a statement released in Brussels on Thursday.

"The Council has extended the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months, until 15 March 2020," the statement says. "They currently apply to 170 persons and 44 entities."

According to the document, "the decision was adopted by the Council by written procedure." "The legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on 13 September 2019," the Council added.

Until today, the EU prolonged individual sanctions against Russia in March, including eight new persons - Russian servicemen - in the blacklist due to the situation in the Kerch Strait. Since that time, there have been 171 people there, including citizens of Russia and Ukraine and 44 legal entities, mainly executive bodies and military forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).

Currently there are several packages of EU sanctions operating against Russia: economic measures, individual restrictive measures and restrictions against Crimea. The anti-Crimean restrictions are a package of target sanctions against Crimea, with which the European businesses are banned to support any ties.