EU and U.S. Impose New Sanctions on Russia

In the wake of the shoot down of Malaysian flight 17 by Russian-backed separatists, the European Union and the U.S. announced stronger sanctions against the Russian Federation for their continuing support of the insurgency in Ukraine.  The sanctions include limits on Russian access to European capital, embargoes on technology used in deep sea drilling and shale oil development, and a halt in weapons sales.

Given the shaky state of the Russian economy (economic growth is roughly zero), these sanctions should shake up not just the oligarchs atop the Russian Federation, but average Russian citizens.  Whether it's enough to curb their taste for interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs remains to be seen.  Russian autocrat Vladimir "The Invader" Putin has his credibility and political career wrapped up in his pipe dreams of "Great Rossiya," which would assimilate by force if necessary some of the bordering former Soviet republics, with Ukraine being the biggest prize.

UPDATE:  In a barbaric twist to the MH 17 disaster, Russian-backed separatists have reportedly placed land mines at the crash site to prevent investigators from the Netherlands and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from gaining full access.  It's becoming clearer every day that the people responsible for this atrocity are nothing more than thugs and criminals.