EU sanctions individuals involved in barring Yabloko party from Russia’s Duma elections

Olha Romanska, Anastasia Prots - 28 September, 14:32

Nikolai Rybakov, leader of the Yabloko party. Photo: TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet

The Council of the EU has imposed sanctions on Russian judges and prosecutors who were involved in barring the Yabloko party from fielding candidates in recent elections to the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, and in the criminal prosecution of party members.

Source: European Pravda, citing the press service for the Council of the EU

Details: The Council has sanctioned three judges from the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and an official from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office for their involvement in the decision to ban Yabloko from taking part in the September 2026 State Duma elections because of alleged breaches of copyright, extremism and other misconduct.

The Council of the EU noted that Yabloko was the only political party to openly oppose Russia's war against Ukraine.

Today's sanctions list also includes the judge who sentenced Yabloko politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and 1 month in prison for discrediting the Russian army and spreading "fake news" about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the state prosecutor who requested such a harsh sentence.

The Council of the EU has also listed the judges who took part in the trials of Maksim Kruglov and Nikolai Rybakov, other prominent leaders of the Yabloko party.

All of them are subject to an asset freeze, and EU citizens and companies are prohibited from making funds, financial assets or economic resources available to them.

Background:

On 28 September, the Council of the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Earlier, the Council of the EU extended restrictive measures against individuals responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for another 36 months, but removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list.

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