SW News: According to a statement issued by the European Union Council on September 8, six Russian citizens have been sanctioned for their role in human rights breaches inside Russia and in occupied Crimea in Ukraine.

Stringent restrictions, including a travel ban and asset freeze, have been enforced in compliance with the EU's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, which already targets 67 people and 20 organizations. On the list are prosecutors and judges who were engaged in politically motivated prosecutions of journalists such as Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was sentenced to six years in prison, and Crimean Tatars such as Nariman Dzhelyalov.

The EU sanctioned Moscow’s FSB agent Vitaliy Vlasov on Friday for his probe of Yesypenko and four Jehovah's Witnesses in 2021, and Denis Korovin was sanctioned for allegedly contributing to Yesypenko's torture.

The Council noted that the Russian court system lacks independence and is often and harshly utilized to violate the human rights of people who criticize the government. The EU does not recognize Russia's attempted illegal annexation of Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson in Ukraine, which breaches international law and the UN Charter. Meanwhile, in view of Russia's strong attack on Ukraine, the European Union is worried about the human rights situation in temporarily seized Ukrainian territory.

The Union is committed to fully implementing its non-recognition policy and to defending Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.