The European Union imposed sanctions on Monday on almost 1,600 Russian people and companies linked to Russia's arms industry, notably targeting those suspected of involvement in making parts for drones and missiles.

In the biggest single listing of sanctions since the Kremlin launched full-scale war on Ukraine almost five years ago, the EU also targeted 77 people accused of organizing, working on, or running in "sham elections" in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Announcing the sanctions, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that more than half of them "address the production chain for the ballistic missiles Russia uses to kill Ukrainian civilians every day." "This is not the time to ease pressure on Moscow but to increase it," she said.