The list of people sanctioned by the European Union for their role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, support for Kremlin policies or the dissemination of propaganda continues to grow. The tenth round of restrictive measures approved last Friday, two hours before the deadline that the Twenty-seven had set for themselves to announce them on the first anniversary of the start of the war, includes new names the names of people who are considered responsible of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia or to territories controlled by Moscow to "re-educate" them, as well as several commanders of the Wagner mercenary group, who will see their assets and financial assets frozen in community territory.
According to a study by the Yale University Research Laboratory published in February, since the start of the war more than 6,000 Ukrainian children, between the ages of four months and 17 years, have been captured and sent to Russian re-education camps. or fraudulently introduced into the Russian adoption system. Personalities close to President Vladimir Putin have publicly thanked him for having been able to adopt one of these children. "This is a clear violation of international law, including the Geneva convention," Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, recently denounced at the UN Security Council.
Although the EU already took action against 12 people in December, the round adopted last week broadens and refines the punishment by including, in addition to new members of the Russian army, four high-level political figures for their role in these activities: Tatiana Moskalkova , chairwoman of the Russian human rights commission; Victoriya Yakimova, linked to the In the Hands of Children campaign who is accused of coordinating these activities; the Minister of Social Affairs, Lenara Ivanova; and the vice-president of the Moscow region Vyacheslav Dukhin.
The director of the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviychuk, whose organization received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has insistently called on the EU and the G7 to punish those responsible for these policies. "These particular crimes show that you can destroy some ethnic group not only with murders, sexual violence, kidnappings and detentions that we document on Ukrainian soil, which are regularly committed by Russian troops against civilians, but also by taking Ukrainian children and re-educating them as Russians." says the lawyer.
The tenth package of EU sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine also includes sanctions for officials of the Wagner group in Mali, Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic, among other parts of the world, including two commanders active in Ukraine who participated in the brutal takeover of the city of Soledar, accused of committing "acts of violence and numerous human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings." In total, the names of eight individuals and seven entities linked to this mercenary organization have been included. "The activities of the Wagner group are a threat to the countries where they operate and to the EU. They do not act within any legal framework and therefore endanger peace and security," Borrell explained in a statement. The United States has also adopted new sanctions against this group of mercenaries in recent days.
Beyond these decisions, the tenth package of EU sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes trade restrictions valued at 11,000 million euros through a ban on the export of technology for military use and measures against Iranian companies that supply drones to Moscow, in addition to selective restricted measures against individuals and entities that support the war, disseminate propaganda (broadcasting licenses to the RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic channels are suspended) or deliver drones to Russia for use in the conflict.
In addition, the EU has introduced new reporting obligations to banks on the funds and economic resources of sanctioned individuals and entities, including the reserves and assets of the Central Bank of Russia frozen by Member States, in order to track, value and, if the right legal path is found, use them somehow to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. Once again, the proposal to sanction the import of Russian diamonds was rejected by the Belgian opposition, as was the idea of acting against Rosatom, the Russian state company in charge of developing nuclear energy, in this case due to the refusal of countries such as Hungary and Bulgaria, but the Twenty-seven have promised to raise the debate to the G7 to seek a global agreement.
