The Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on 10 people it said were involved in repressing Russia’s democratic opposition, including figures linked to a court decision that barred the opposition party Yabloko from standing in the September 2026 State Duma elections.
Three Supreme Court judges and an official in Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office were listed over their involvement in the decision excluding Yabloko from the vote, the Council said in a statement on Monday.
It added that the ban was linked to alleged breaches of copyright, extremism and other misconduct.
Yabloko was the only political party that openly opposed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The EU also listed the judge who sentenced Yabloko politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in prison for discrediting the Russian army and spreading “fake news” about the war.
A state prosecutor who requested that sentence was also added to the list.
Two more judges were listed over their roles in trials involving Maxim Kruglov and Nikolai Rybakov, described by the EU as prominent Yabloko leaders.
Asset freeze and funding ban
Those newly listed are subject to an asset freeze and EU citizens and companies are prohibited from making funds, financial assets or economic resources available to them, the Council said.
The measures bring the total number of people sanctioned under the EU’s Russia human rights framework to 108, alongside seven entities.
The Council noted the relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The sanctions framework was set up in March 2024 to target those the EU holds 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, the Council said, adding it followed the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
