The EU sanctioned ten Russian officials and judicial figures on September 28, citing the exclusion of Yabloko from the State Duma election and cases against party leaders. Those listed include judges and prosecutors connected to the proceedings. The EU freezes their assets and bars EU persons from providing funds. The decision is a new restrictive measure; the Council’s account of responsibility is its stated basis, not a fresh judgment on each Russian case.
Geopolitics··Evening
Ten people added to the EU list
The European Union imposed sanctions on ten Russians on September 28, linking them to the exclusion of the opposition party Yabloko from the State Duma election and cases against its leaders. The independent Russian outlet The Insider reported the same decision and identified judicial and prosecution officials among the targets. The Council frames the listings as a response to repression of democratic opposition. Its assessment is the stated basis for EU restrictive measures; listing the officials does not amount to a fresh court judgment on each underlying Russian proceeding.[1], [2]
Election exclusion and party cases
The Council says three Russian Supreme Court judges and a Prosecutor General’s Office official were involved in the decision barring Yabloko from the September parliamentary election. Russian authorities had cited alleged copyright infringement, extremism and other misconduct in proceedings against the party; the EU regards the exclusion as repression. The list also includes a judge and a prosecutor connected to the sentence imposed on anti-war politician Lev Shlosberg. Judges involved in cases concerning party figures Maxim Kruglov and Nikolai Rybakov are also targeted. These are distinct proceedings connected by the Council’s decision to list the officials.[1]
Funds and assets face restrictions
Assets held by listed individuals in the EU are frozen, and EU people and companies may not provide them with funds or economic resources. After the decision, the Council says its Russia human-rights sanctions framework covers 108 people and seven entities. The new measure concerns the officials’ EU access to resources; it does not reverse Yabloko’s exclusion or change the election result. UN human-rights chief Volker Türk had separately voiced concern in August about the party’s exclusion and Shlosberg’s prison sentence. That earlier warning supplies context for the dispute, while the ten new listings are the September 28 development.[1]
