The NYTimes & WaPo on it:

U.S. Imposes New Sanctions on Oligarchs Tied to Putin

By GARDINER HARRIS 9:16 AM ET

• The Trump administration announced sanctions on some of Russia’s richest men and top officials, punishing Vladimir V. Putin’s inner circle for Russian aggressions.
• The sanctions are designed to penalize those who are seen as enriching themselves from Mr. Putin’s increasingly authoritarian administration.

Trump administration imposes new sanctions on Russian elite

The sweeping measures, which target senior politicians, companies and business leaders, are likely to provoke a strong response from the Kremlin.

• By John Hudson and Seung Min Kim
• 1 hour ago

Putin, or the World? Sanctions May Force Oligarchs to Choose

By Neil MacFarquhard @ NYTimes.com,   APRIL 11, 2018

MOSCOW — Compared to the sunny, palm-lined offshore tax havens where Russians typically stash their fortunes — think the British Virgin Islands or Cyprus — two chilly, windswept Russian islands would seem to offer little.

Yet October Island, a glorified swamp in Russia’s European exclave of Kaliningrad, and Russian Island, a former cow pasture facing the far eastern port of Vladivostok, were highlighted by Moscow this week as potential alternatives.

Washington’s imposition of unexpectedly tough sanctions against several leading oligarchs is in many respects a game changer for Russia, with repercussions that are only slowly coming into view. Establishing tax havens within the country was just one reaction by the Kremlin, seemingly caught off guard as aftershocks rippled through currency and financial markets.

“Russia has no strategy on how to react to this situation, to these new economic circumstances,” Evgeny Gontmakher, a prominent opposition economist, said.

The most immediate effect is being felt by Oleg V. Deripaska and his aluminum giant, Rusal, which has lost about one-third of its value on the Moscow stock exchange. “This is a new stage,” Mr. Gontmakher said. “This is targeting for isolation a very big, export-oriented company. That is very painful.” [....]