European Commission: Patriarch Kιrill is also in the crosshairs of sanctions

The new list, which has yet to be approved by member states, includes 58 people, including many Russian officials, as well as the wife, daughter and son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov.

This includes the head of the Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor, Andrei Lipov.

Sanctions include banning entry into EU countries and freezing assets.

More than a thousand people have already been included in the European "black list".

"Patriarch Kirill, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, has become one of the dominant supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine," the document said.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has stepped up his sermons in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On February 27, he spoke of a struggle against the "forces of evil" that oppose the historic "unity" between Russia and Ukraine.