This Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1438 amends Regulation (EU) 2024/1485, which concerns restrictive measures in view of the situation in Russia. The key purpose of this regulation is to add five individuals to the list of natural persons subject to sanctions as outlined in Annex IV of the original regulation. These additions are based on the Council’s assessment of the gravity of human rights violations and repressions in Russia.
The structure of the regulation is straightforward. It consists of two articles and an annex. Article 1 states that Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2024/1485 is amended as per the Annex to this regulation. Article 2 specifies that the regulation comes into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. The Annex provides detailed information on the individuals being added to the sanctions list, including their names, identifying information, statements of reasons for their listing, and the date of listing.
The most important provision of this regulation is the inclusion of the five individuals in Annex IV of Regulation (EU) 2024/1485. These individuals are: Roman Viktorovich Vladimirov, Katerina Evgenievna Kirichenko, Larisa Tikhonovna Martynova, Maksim Bronislavovich Sokolovskiy, and Elena Leonidovna Zhuravleva. All five individuals are judges who have been involved in politically motivated prosecution cases, particularly the case of Alexei Gorinov, who was sentenced for expressing his opinion on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The sanctions imposed on these individuals may include asset freezes and travel bans within the European Union. **** This regulation directly impacts individuals involved in the Russian judicial system who are seen as contributing to human rights violations and the repression of civil society, particularly in relation to actions against those who oppose the war in Ukraine.
