EU Sanctions Eight Russians for Human Rights Violations and Repression
Summary
The Council of the EU imposed restrictive measures on eight individuals responsible for serious human rights violations, repression of civil society, and undermining democracy in Russia. The designations include judges, prosecutors, and penal colony administrators involved in politically motivated trials and detention of activists including Aleksei Gorinov and journalist Maria Ponomarenko. Listed individuals are subject to asset freezes and travel bans preventing entry or transit through EU territory.
What changed
The Council of the EU added eight individuals to its targeted sanctions list under the framework established in March 2024 following Alexei Navalny's death. The designations target Russian judicial officials involved in sentencing activists Dmitry Skurikhin and Oleg Belousov on politically motivated charges, as well as penal colony administrators responsible for holding Aleksei Gorinov, Pavel Kushnir, Mikhail Kriger, and Maria Ponomarenko under inhuman conditions. The legal basis is Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/432 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/431, both dated 23 February 2026.
Affected parties including EU financial institutions, investors, and companies must ensure they do not make funds or economic resources available to these listed individuals. Any pre-existing positions requiring licensing should be reviewed immediately. The framework also includes trade restrictions on equipment exported to Russia that could be used for internal repression or telecommunication interception.
What to do next
- Screen all counterparties, customers, and third parties against updated EU sanctions list
- Update compliance screening procedures to flag new designations
- Monitor for additional designations under the EU human rights sanctions framework on Russia
Penalties
Asset freeze on listed individuals; EU persons and companies forbidden from making funds available to them; EU travel ban preventing entry or transit through EU territories
Archived snapshot
Apr 10, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
- Council of the EU
- Press release
- 23 February 2026 13:24
Human rights violations in Russia: EU lists additional eight individuals
Today, the Council imposed restrictive measures on eight individuals responsible for serious human rights violations, the repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Russia.
The new listings target members of the judiciary - 2 judges, one prosecutor and one investigator – involved in politically motivated trials - responsible for sentencing Russian activists Dmitry Skurikhin and Oleg Belousov on politically motivated charges. Furthermore, the measures agreed today target the heads of penal colonies and a pre-detention centre, where political prisoners Aleksei Gorinov, Pavel Kushnir, Mikhail Kriger and journalist Maria Ponomarenko, speaking out against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and criticising Putin’s regime, were held and kept in solitary confinement and inhuman and degrading conditions.
The individuals designated today are subject to an asset freeze and EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to them. They are also subject to a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories.
The EU remains unwavering in its condemnation of human rights violations and repressions in Russia, and is deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, especially in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Background
The Council established a new framework for restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights violations or abuses, repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and undermining democracy and the rule of law in Russia in March 2024, as the EU’s response to the accelerating and systematic repression in Russia. The new framework has been established following the death of Alexei Navalny.
The regime allows the EU to target also those who provide support for or are involved in the misconduct set out above. Furthermore, it entails trade restrictions on exporting to Russia equipment, which might be used for internal repression and the monitoring or interception of telecommunication.
- Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/432 of 23 February 2026 amending Decision (CFSP) 2024/1484 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia
- Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/431 of 23 February 2026 implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia
- Consolidated text dated 20 November 2025: Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1484 of 27 May 2024 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia
- Human rights abuses in Russia: EU sanctions (background information)
Press contacts
- Maria Daniela Lenzu Press officer
- +32 470 88 04 02
- +32 2 281 21 46
- @daniela_lenzu If you are not a journalist, please send your request to the public information service.
Topics
- Foreign affairs
- Russia's war against Ukraine
- Sanctions
- Human rights
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