EU imposes sanctions on 16 individuals over Russian destabilization
The Council of the European Union decided on Monday, December 16, to impose sanctions on 16 individuals and three entities involved in Russia’s destabilizing activities abroad, including a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, as stated in a press release issued by the Council.
The list includes Anatolii Prizenko, a Moldovan businessman who coordinated the transportation of several Moldovan citizens to France in October 2023.
The individuals designated today will face asset freezes, and EU citizens and companies will be prohibited from providing them with any financial resources. Additionally, the individuals will also face travel bans, preventing them from entering or transiting through EU territories.
The relevant framework for restrictive measures was put in place on October 8, 2024, to target those involved in actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation that undermine the fundamental values of the EU and its member states, including their security, stability, independence, and territorial integrity, as well as those of international organizations and third countries through a range of hybrid activities, such as coordinated information manipulation and interference," stated the Council of the European Union.
On the same day, the EU also issued a statement condemning Russia’s escalating hybrid activities campaign.
Today’s listings include a covert unit within the Russian military intelligence agency, known for its involvement in foreign assassinations and destabilizing activities, such as bombings and cyberattacks across Europe, along with some of its active military members in Ukraine, Western Europe, and Africa.
The Council also decided to add a pro-Russian disinformation network to the list, which conducts covert influence operations, particularly in the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, along with its founder.
Additionally, the Council added to the list a news agency involved in spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation across Africa, its editor-in-chief, and a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer involved in coordinated disinformation campaigns in both Europe and Africa, along with a senior GRU official who took over the Wagner Group’s operations in Africa after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Council also targeted a Russian-led digital disinformation campaign aimed at manipulating information and spreading disinformation in support of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, targeting EU member states, the United States, and Ukraine, by sanctioning Sofia Zakharova, head of the Department for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications Infrastructure at the Russian President’s Office, and Nikolai Tupikin, head and founder of GK Struktura.
The sanctions also target a former parliamentary assistant to German Bundestag Member Eugen Schmidt, who actively collaborated with Russian intelligence officers, and a Russian entrepreneur, along with his business partner and wife, who played a key role in a Russian intelligence operation against the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND), during which highly classified information was transferred to the FSB.
In its conclusions of June 27, 2024, the Council of the European Union firmly condemned all types of hybrid activities, which are on the rise and target the EU, its member states, and their partners' security and sovereignty.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
