The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is imposing new sanctions on Russia over “continued and ongoing aggression in Ukraine.”

Eight Russian entities and six individuals are being sanctioned by the Treasury Department for “playing a role” in the attempted annexation of Crimea, for backing Ukrainian separatists, and for attacking Ukrainian naval vessels. The sanctions are being imposed in coordination with Canada and the European Union.

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the following.

“The United States and our transatlantic partners will not allow Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine to go unchecked. This joint initiative with our partners in the European Union and Canada reinforces our shared commitment to impose targeted and meaningful sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s attempts to disregard international norms and undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The following Russian entities, each of them close to Vladimir Putin’s government, are being sanctioned: LLC Novye Proekty, GUP RK KTB Sudokompozit, LLC SK Consol-Stroi LTD, PAO Zvezda, AO Zavod Fiolent, AO Kontsern Okeanpribor, Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant, Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant.

The United States is also sanctioning four Russian government officials involved in attacks on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait. The sanctions also target two Ukrainian separatists, Aleksey Alekseevich Naydenko, and Vladimir Yurievich Vysotsky.

The imposing on these sanctions is only the latest in the line of escalations signaling the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive posture toward Moscow. As reported by The Inquisitr, in late February the State Department issued a stern warning to Russia, urging it to return the disputed territory of Crimea to Ukraine’s control.

Before urging that Russia returns Crimea to Ukraine’s control, the United State withdrew from the INF Treaty, prompting Russia to do the same. The Trump administration’s decision was strongly backed by NATO.

US, Canada, EU hit Russia with fresh sanctions over Ukraine https://t.co/frc3EdSsYh pic.twitter.com/J52yyoHZDp — Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) March 15, 2019

Prior to withdrawing from the INF, in yet another signal of aggression toward Russia, Trump expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the United States and imposed sanctions on a number of the Russian oligarch. Furthermore, the president supplied the Ukrainian army with lethal anti-tank systems.

President Donald Trump is being accused of conspiring with official Moscow to sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor. Investigating the matter is Special Counsel Robert Mueller. According to media reports, Mueller is close to wrapping up the investigation.

Earlier this week, NPR reported that one of Mueller’s top prosecutors, Andrew Weissmann, is set to leave office. Weissmann, according to the publication’s sources, will leave to work on a number of public service projects and teach at New York University.

According to NPR‘s sources, the top prosecutor’s departure is the strongest signal yet that Mueller is close to finishing his investigation into Russian election interference and related matters.