EU targets Russian intelligence, officials with first disinformation sanctions

BRUSSELS - The European Union is proposing to sanction more than a dozen individuals and three entities as part of the bloc’s first set of measures hitting Russia for its disinformation operations and other hybrid activities.

The proposed measures would hit several Russian intelligence officers and groups, as well as government officials and media entrepreneurs, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg.

The restrictions are part of a new sanctions regime approved earlier this year that focuses on disinformation operations and other Russian-sponsored destabilising activities globally.

The bloc is also proposing further sanctions on Belarus, including on about two dozen individuals accused of human-rights violations or benefiting materially from their relationship with the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. 

EU foreign ministers aim to approve the packages when they meet on Dec 16 in Brussels, ahead of elections scheduled to take place in January in Belarus.

The proposals come as

the EU agreed on the 15th package of sanctions on Russia

over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Those measures include restrictions on more than 45 oil tankers involved in covertly shipping Russia’s crude and several Chinese entities accused of helping Moscow develop attack drones.

EU sanctions require the backing of all member states and could change before then. BLOOMBERG