The European Union on Monday added more than 80 people and entities to its Russia sanctions list, including Georgiy Shevkunov — the senior Russian Orthodox cleric commonly portrayed in Russian media as President Vladimir Putin’s "confessor." The package targets individuals and organisations accused of spreading propaganda, supplying military equipment, and facilitating the financing of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Georgiy Shevkunov, known by his ecclesiastical name Metropolitan Tikhon, was singled out for "spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation" intended to justify the invasion of Ukraine, the EU said. Shevkunov — who was appointed Metropolitan of Crimea in 2023 — has neither publicly confirmed nor denied media descriptions that portray him as Putin’s personal priest. The EU and most of the international community consider Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea illegal.
In February last year, Russia's FSB said it had arrested two people after foiling an alleged Ukrainian-ordered plot to kill the prelate.
The new package adds 34 individuals and 47 entities to the EU’s Russia sanctions list. Measures include asset freezes, travel bans and prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available to those designated.
"We approved another batch of sanctions to put more pressure on Russia to end the war," said EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. "Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia's war economy."
The measures specifically target suppliers and manufacturers of drones and other military equipment used by Russian forces, alleged propagandists (including a social media figure identified as Alexandra Jost), and companies and individuals accused of facilitating Russia’s war financing through oil shipments and exports. The list also includes 15 people linked to the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, among them judges, prosecutors and law-enforcement officers.
The announcement coincided with a Russian missile barrage that struck several major Ukrainian cities the same day, killing at least 11 people and sparking a fire at one of Ukraine’s most important Orthodox monasteries. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged G7 leaders in France to increase pressure on Moscow.
Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has evolved into Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of military deaths.
