The Council of the European Union has decided to extend restrictive measures against individuals responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine for another 36 months – until September 22, 2029. The sanctions were not extended for three individuals and one legal entity.
The EU Council's press service announced this on Tuesday in Brussels.
The statement notes that the current restrictive measures apply to more than 3,000 individuals and legal entities and include travel restrictions for individuals, asset freezes, and a ban on providing funds or other economic resources to the designated individuals and organizations.
"In the context of the sanctions' review, the Council also decided not to renew the listings of three individuals and one entity, as well as to remove three deceased persons from the list," the press release reads. The text does not specify names or entities.
The Council of the EU said that following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the EU significantly expanded sanctions against Russia with the aim of limiting its ability to wage war by substantially weakening its economic base and reducing its energy revenues, denying it access to critical technologies and markets, and striking at its military-industrial complex.
"In its conclusions of 18 June 2026, the European Council reaffirmed its continued firm and unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The EU will continue to provide, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, comprehensive political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people," the statement reads.
In addition, the Council of the EU affirmed that the EU remains fully committed to further intensifying pressure on Russia and continuing to weaken its war economy, in order to force it to end its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and begin meaningful negotiations to achieve peace.
As reported, the ambassadors – the permanent representatives of EU member states – following a discussion that had lasted the past few weeks, finally decided to extend sanctions for violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity for three years instead of six months, as had been the case previously, but this came at the cost of excluding Usmanov and Friedman from the sanctions list at the request of Slovakia, France, and Luxembourg.
Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against Russian oligarchs Usmanov and Friedman on October 19, 2022. As the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy noted at the time, sanctions were imposed that day against 256 individuals – oligarchs from the Forbes list and their associates. The list included Friedman's partners at Alfa Group – Petr Aven, German Khan, and Alexei Kuzmichov – as well as Vladimir Lisin, Leonid Mikhelson, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Mikhail Prokhorov, Suleiman Kerimov, Elena Baturina, Yuri Kovalchuk, and others.
A major asset of Friedman and his partners-SENS Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank)-was nationalized by Ukraine in the summer of 2023. In 2022, ARMA also gained control, pursuant to a court ruling, of the corporate rights and other assets of IDS Ukraine-a group linked to Friedman and the country's largest producer and distributor of mineral water.
In September 2024, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) to forfeit the assets of IDS Ukraine and other Ukrainian assets linked to Friedman to the state. Specifically, the case involved shares and stakes in the "Mirgorod Mineral Water Plant," the "Morshyn Mineral Water Plant "Oscar,"" "Industrial and Distribution Systems," "Alfa Insurance," and "Alfa-Leasing Ukraine." Hearings on this case are still ongoing.
As for the Ukrainian assets of Usmanov and his business partners-the Skoch and Streshinsky families-in 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS), acting on a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice, already ruled that these assets be forfeited to the state. According to information from then-Deputy Minister of Justice Inna Bagatykh, the assets in question include more than 165,000 metric tons of iron ore products with an estimated value of over 2 billion hryvnias, as well as 100% of the authorized capital of Peter-Service Ukraine LLC-an IT company that was previously controlled by Usmanov.
