Security & Defense

#32026R0431Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/431 of 23 February 2026 implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia

🇪🇺European Union··Other·Medium Impact·View source ↗

AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.

🇬🇧 English

This EU regulation adds eight Russian individuals to the sanctions list under Annex IV of Regulation 2024/1485. The listed persons are heads of penal colonies, a pre-trial detention centre, a prosecutor, judges, and an investigator. They are sanctioned for their direct roles in the mistreatment, torture-like conditions, denial of medical care, and politically motivated prosecutions of Russian political prisoners and anti-war activists. Specific cases include the deaths and severe abuse of prisoners Aleksei Gorinov, Pavel Kushnir, and Maria Ponomarenko. The measure demonstrates the EU's continued response to human rights violations and repression of civil society in Russia.

AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.

Key Changes

  • Addition of 8 new natural persons (entries 65 to 72) to Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2024/1485
  • Inclusion of 4 heads of penal colonies/pre-trial centres responsible for mistreatment of named political prisoners
  • Sanctioning of 1 prosecutor, 2 judges and 1 senior investigator from Saint Petersburg courts for politically motivated prosecutions

+ 3 more changes with Pro

Obligations

What this law requires

high

Add the eight named Russian individuals (Aleksei Valizer, Anton Rychar, Maksim Prilepsky, Vyacheslav Pisklov, Sergei Filichev, and three others listed in Annex IV) to the EU sanctions list under Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 Annex IV

All EU Member States, EU institutions, and EU-based entities
prohibition
high

Implement asset freezes against the eight listed Russian individuals in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 provisions

Financial institutions, competent national authorities in all EU Member States
prohibition
high

Deny entry to EU territory or revoke visas/travel documents for the eight listed Russian individuals

Border control authorities and immigration services in all EU Member States
prohibition
high

Ensure this Regulation enters into force and is binding upon publication in the Official Journal of the European Union dated 23 February 2026

All EU Member States
operational
high

Apply this Regulation directly and in its entirety across all EU Member States without requiring national implementing legislation

All EU Member States and their competent authorities
operational

Affected Parties

Russian prison and penal colony officialsRussian prosecutors and judges involved in political cases+2 more…

Tags

EU sanctions,Russia,human rights violations