The Long History of Sanctions Aimed at Putin’s Russia: QuickTake

Since 2014, the U.S. and its allies have imposed travel bans, asset freezes and economic restrictions on hundreds of Russian individuals and companies, part of a multinational effort to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for alleged trouble-making beyond its borders and online. The sanctions have largely failed to moderate Putin’s behavior. Now that Russian forces have attacked targets across Ukraine, harsher measures are likely to follow.

They’re primarily designed to hurt the target -- a person, a company, a group or even an entire country -- economically, through restrictions on trade, banking or access to financial assets. Sanctioned individuals may face travel bans. Companies or industries may be blocked from certain exports or imports. Sanctioned governments can find themselves unable to tap capital or debt markets. In what are known as secondary sanctions, third parties can face penalties for doing business with sanctioned people or entities.