Three companies exposed in The Insider's investigations targeted by new EU sanctions package

At least three companies previously exposed in The Insider's investigations have been included in the 16th package of European Union sanctions announced earlier today — “on the third year mark of the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

The sanctions targeted the following companies:

• CJSC Donobuv: The producer of footwear openly states on its website that it supplies the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD). The Insider detailed its activities in the May 2023 investigation titled BuZiness as usual: 25 European companies still supplying the Russian army.
• JSC Faraday: Another footwear contractor for the Russian MoD, also featured in the same investigation.
• JSC Morion: A supplier of quartz generators for Russia’s defense industry. The company was mentioned in The Insider's December 2023 investigation titled Sanction-dodging armor: Which Western countries are helping Russia make Armata and Proryv tanks.

Today’s sanctions were also extended to Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, a supplier to the Ministry of Defense and owner of real estate in France. The new list also includes Yan Novikov, head of the state-run Almaz-Antey Aerospace Defense Concern.

Both Yevtushenkov and Novikov were also previously featured in The Insider's investigations.

The European Union's updated sanctions list included 48 names:

• Yevgeny Dronov, CEO of the defense enterprise Tulamashzavod.
• Dmitry Lelikov, Deputy General Director of the state-owned Rostec defense corporation.
• Vasily Brovko, a senior manager at Rostec and husband of TV presenter Tina Kandelaki (who was also sanctioned by the EU in December 2024).
• Yuri Nimchenko, member of Russia’s upper house of parliament — the Federation Council — representing Crimea, which was occupied and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
• Sergey Karyakin, chess grandmaster and member of the Federation Council from Crimea.
• Anatoly Turchak, a longtime Putin associate who is also the owner of the Leninets holding company, which specializes in aircraft radar development.
• Kristina Potupchik, a media manager linked to a network of pro-government Telegram channels.
• Vladimir Kolbin, son of Pyotr Kolbin, a close friend of Vladimir Putin.
• Mikhail Galustyan, a popular TV personality, a former official representative of Putin and manager of the youth military movement Yunarmiya (lit. “Young Army” — a Russian paramilitary organization subject to EU sanctions since July 2022). As per the listing, Galustyan “is a long-term supporter of President Vladimir Putin and his policies, and has been using his popularity to spread the messages and narratives of Kremlin propaganda.”

Additional sanctions were imposed on Fidail Bikbulatov, head of the Yunarmiya regional branch in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine, and Nikita Nagorny, the former leader of Yunarmiya and now Deputy Chairman of the “Movement of the First” («Движение первых») organization (also sanctioned by the EU).

Zhou Dachuang, chairman of China Head Aerospace Technology LLC, a Chinese company accused of providing satellite imagery to aid the Russian military, was also designated.

According to a press release from the Council of the European Union, all listed individuals are considered “responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.” The list also includes several high-ranking military officials from North Korea.

The EU also imposed an embargo on 74 vessels from Russia’s “shadow fleet” — third-country tankers that have been transporting Russian oil in violation of existing sanctions, particularly of the $60-per-barrel price cap that Western countries imposed in December 2022. The total number of designated vessels now stands at 153.

13 additional banks will also be disconnected from the SWIFT payment system by March 17. The institutions affected include Uralsib Bank, Tochka Bank, National Reserve Bank, Ak Bars Bank, as well as nine others.

The Council also suspended the EU broadcasting licenses of “eight Russian media outlets under the permanent control of the Russian leadership” and banned them from broadcasting their content. These included EADaily / Eurasia Daily, Fondsk, Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation, and Krasnaya Zvezda / Tvzvezda.