An additional 61 individuals and 86 entities responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, were added to the twelfth package of sanctions adopted by the Council of the EU on 18 December.
The new listings target primarily the military and defence sectors. The Council listed more than 40 companies taking part in the Russian military industrial complex, 7 Russian private military companies and one of their founders, 12 Belarusian individuals involved in the military support to Russia’s war against Ukraine, and further Russian officials and businesspersons in the defence sector.
Restrictive measures will also apply to important economic actors: AlfaStrakhovanie Group, one of the biggest insurance companies in Russia, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring, four telecom companies in the territories of Ukraine that Russia has temporarily occupied: LLC MirTelecom, LLC SC Lyukstrans, JSC Krymtelecom, and JSC Beto, and further Russian businesspersons.
Among the listed individuals and entities, there are also 14 members of the Central Election Committee of the Russian Federation, and two members of regional committees which have been responsible for organising illegal referenda in 2022 and the illegal so-called elections in September 2023 in the territories of Ukraine that Russia has temporarily occupied. Those responsible for the military re-education of Ukrainian children, including the movement Volunteers of Victory, the Avangard Centre and the Crimea Patriot Centre, are also included in the package.
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The listings will also cover the Russian IT sector, two entities and two individuals responsible for circumventing EU sanctions, as well as actors spreading disinformation and propaganda in support of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, including Tsargrad TV Channel, and Spas TV Channel, Russian propaganda media outlets.
The Council also extended the listing criteria so as to include individuals and entities responsible for the forced take-over of EU companies established in Russia, and those benefiting from it.
Moreover, the Council set out the conditions for the possibility to maintain deceased persons on the list if it considers there is a likelihood that the assets concerned would otherwise be used to finance Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine or other actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
Altogether, EU restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine now apply to almost 1,950 individuals and entities. Those designated are subject to an asset freeze and EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to them. Natural persons are additionally subject to a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories.
