bans, includes two members of president putin s inner circle. women washington igor sechin, one of the his closest allies, an ma who s been called russia s darth vader and the scariest man on earth, controlling 40% of crude oil production in russia, one of the most powerful pen in ha country. today s sanctions also froze the assets of 17 companies. arier today, nbc s andrea mitchell spoke with u.s. treasury secretary jack lew about the aim of these sanctions. our gold is not to hurt the russian people, it s to get them to change their policy. the goal will, you think realized if we continue to work at it step by step working with our allies, to make sure the pressure is not just from the united states, but from the