WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced they’re ready to unleash additional sanctions on Russia. But they are keeping quite on what those sanctions looks like.  

The President told reporters those sanctions will be released on Friday. The State Department said the sanctions are in connection to both the two-year anniversary of the invasion and the death of Aleksey Navalny. Navalny was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top political opponent who had been held in a Russian prison. As far as what those sanctions look like, officials are not giving too much away. They’re only saying it will ramp up pressure on Russia.   

“We are always looking at additional ways we can choke off the Russian war machine that we can deny the Russian military industrial complex components that it needs to use to fund its war effort as well as hold accountable those involved in it,” said Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesperson. “So without getting into too much detail as I said two days before the announcement you should expect them to follow the general direction of our past sanctions as well as specific sanctions in relation to the death of Aleksy Navalny.” 

Saturday will mark the second anniversary of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The US said they still haven’t determined how Navalny died but the president said Putin is responsible for his death.