A central focus of the fresh EU sanctions package is suppressing Russian energy revenues amid surging global oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East.
The bombing follows a string of assassination plots inside Russia targeting military officials, pro-war figures and Ukrainian defectors since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The leadership shuffle comes on the heels of an agreement ratified last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which seeks to align South Ossetia’s laws closer to Russia’s.