Ukraine imposes sanctions on Russian judges who issued illegal sentences to POWs

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed decrees enacting decisions of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions on Russian judges who handed down illegal sentences to prisoners of war, as well as to extend sanctions against several Russian companies whose restrictions were set to expire.

That is according to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

The sanctions target 41 judges, including 38 Russian citizens and three collaborators. They issued unlawful prison sentences against prisoners of war and support and justify Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Among them is a Russian judge who, within a single week, delivered verdicts against nine Ukrainian prisoners of war in trumped-up terrorism cases.

Ukraine has also imposed sanctions on former Ukrainian nationals who, in temporarily occupied Donetsk, sentenced to death two British and one Moroccan volunteer who fought for Ukraine as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and were captured by Russian forces.

The sanctions list also includes judges who issued unlawful rulings against civic activists, public figures, and journalists because of their political or religious beliefs.

"Sanctions against so-called 'judges' who stamp out politically motivated sentences against our citizens and our soldiers are a matter of justice. It is especially disgraceful to see former Ukrainians among them who knowingly became collaborators and turned the courts into instruments of repression," said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the presidential advisor and commissioner for sanctions policy.

The head of state also signed a decree extending sanctions against 11 Russian companies whose restrictions were set to expire. The initial sanctions against them were introduced in 2021 and 2023. Since then, three companies from that list have been completely liquidated, once again demonstrating the effectiveness of sanctions.

The updated sanctions package includes a company involved in the repair and maintenance of aviation equipment, including Ka- and Mi-type helicopters; a firm specializing in the development and production of drones; as well as companies illegally operating in temporarily occupied Crimea that were involved in the construction of the Crimean Bridge.

Ukraine will share the relevant information with international partners to synchronize sanctions measures within their jurisdictions.

Earlier, Zelensky also signed a decree enacting an NSDC decision to impose sanctions against ten Russian transport and logistics companies that deliver goods to temporarily occupied territories.