Edward Marchesi The European Council decided on Monday to adopt a package of sanctions against ten representatives of Russian institutions. The measure stems from the desire to punish the repression of the liberal-democratic Yabloko party, which was excluded from this month's elections and the target of recent legal proceedings against its leaders.
According to the Union's documents, the targeted individuals aided the repression of the democratic opposition and seriously undermined the principles of democracy and the rule of law in Russia.
The sanctions include the freezing of assets located in the EU and a ban on entry into the territory of member countries.
The judicial figures affected by the provision
Among those sanctioned is a Russian Supreme Court judge, whose assets were frozen for last month's order to exclude the federal Yabloko list from the vote, citing alleged violations related to foreign funding, election materials distributed on prohibited platforms, and copyright laws.
Two other magistrates received the same measure for upholding the sentence.
Election officials and prosecutors involved
A Central Election Commission official and a prosecutor are also on the sanctions list for their active participation in the legal proceedings against Yabloko . Additionally, two judges and two state prosecutors were targeted for the imprisonment of senior party members, including Lev Shlosberg, former head of the Pskov regional branch.
The case of the president of Yabloko
Another judge has been sanctioned for fining Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov following the publication of a photo of the now deceased Kremlin supporter Alexei Navalny. The punishment is seen as an attempt to silence any form of denunciation of the regime.
Other EU measures: 27 entities for the forced transfer of Ukrainian minors
At the same time, the EU has added twenty-seven additional individuals and organizations to its sanctions list, accused of organizing the kidnapping and indoctrination of Ukrainian children. This move aims to halt what the EU calls a form of ethnic cleansing and large-scale human rights violations.
Yabloko's political context in the 2026 elections
Yabloko, the oldest party in Russia's liberal tradition, was the only registered party to promote a peace platform in this year's Duma elections. In addition to being excluded from the federal list, Yabloko candidates faced intimidation by the authorities, police arrests, and disqualifications in single-member constituencies where they were still eligible to run.
The blockade extended to nearly all regional assembly races: only the Novgorod region managed to surpass the 5% threshold needed to secure seats in the local legislature. Other regions, such as Pskov, saw Yabloko representatives imprisoned or excluded, effectively nullifying their electoral presence.
In response to this pressure, the independent newspaper The Moscow Times issued an appeal to its readers, denouncing the new restrictions and labeling it an "undesirable organization." The headline, although not part of the sanctions, illustrates the regime's growing hostility toward independent media sources.