EU sanctions eight Russian officials over human rights violations
The European Union has imposed sanctions against eight Russian officials from the judicial and penitentiary systems for their involvement in human rights violations in Russia.
The Council of the European Union approved sanctions against eight individuals deemed responsible for serious human rights violations and repression against civil society and the opposition in Russia.
The list includes two judges, Andrei Shibakov and Eva Gunter, prosecutor Sergei Filichev, and investigator Ilya Pleshkov from St Petersburg, all of whom were involved in court proceedings driven by political motives. In particular, this concerns cases against Russian activists Dmitry Skurikhin and Oleg Belousov.
The sanctions also target the heads of several penal colonies and one pre-trial detention centre where political prisoners – Alexei Gorinov, Pavel Kushnir, Mikhail Kriger and journalist Maria Ponomarenko – were held in degrading conditions, notably for speaking out against Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine and criticising the Russian authorities.
These include the heads of Penal Colonies No. 9 and No. 10 in Altai Krai, Vyacheslav Pisklov and Alexei Valizer; Penal Colony No. 5 in Oryol Oblast, Maksim Prilepsky; and the head of the pre-trial detention centre in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Anton Richar.
The EU sanctions impose asset freezes across the Union, travel bans, including restrictions on transit, and prohibit EU citizens and companies from providing funds to those targeted.
The measures were introduced under a separate EU human rights sanctions regime for Russia, established in 2024 following the death in custody of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
On 14 February, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden issued a joint statement saying laboratory findings indicate that Navalny died in prison from poisoning, with a very high likelihood that Russian authorities were responsible.
They reported that they were submitting their findings to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Subsequently, 17 countries called for a new investigation into Navalny's death.