EU Imposes New Sanctions on Russian Individuals and Organizations The EU’s latest Russia sanctions package doesn’t just squeeze tank factories and oil tankers; it reaches into the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, church hierarchy, and TikTok feed — and that’s exactly where the political arguments begin.

Brussels’ broadside: from missiles to messaging

The 21st EU sanctions package adds 34 individuals and 47 organizations, aimed squarely at Russia’s military‑industrial base, its “shadow fleet,” and hybrid operations tied to the war in Ukraine, Crimea’s annexation, and the poisoning of Alexey Navalny. Among the targets: holding company IPJSC NTK, linked to facial‑recognition developer NtechLab, the ERA Military Innovation Technopolis, and the Lavochkin Research and Production Association, key cogs in Russia’s high‑tech and defense ecosystem.

Brussels is also mulling a travel ban for anyone who has fought on Russia’s side, effectively warning foreign volunteers that battlefield choices could carry lasting personal costs inside Europe.

Hitting the pulpit and the prosecutor

In a sharp expansion of what counts as a “war actor,” the EU has sanctioned Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Simferopol and Crimea — dubbed in Western media “Putin’s confessor” — accusing him of spreading propaganda that justifies Russia’s aggression. Russia’s Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan and regional officials tied to Navalny’s poisoning, including former Omsk health minister Alexander Murakhovsky and chief toxicologist Alexander Sabayev, are also on the list, signaling that legal and medical enablers of repression are now fair game.

The influencer front line

Perhaps the most politically explosive move is the decision to sanction U.S.-Russian blogger Alexandra (Sasha) Jost, the face behind “Sasha meets Russia,” who allegedly received secret payments from state outlet RT while producing upbeat comparisons of life in Russia and the West. EU officials group her with 10 individuals and one organization they say are involved in pro‑Kremlin disinformation campaigns.

Critics see this as a necessary pushback against covert influence operations that blur the line between content and state propaganda. Civil‑liberties advocates, however, warn that once Brussels is in the business of sanctioning bloggers and bishops, the boundary between defending democracy and policing speech gets dangerously thin.