EU imposes record sanctions on 1,569 targets in Russian arms network; adds seven entities, including North Korean missile technician

[Financial News] The European Union (EU) added 1,569 individuals and entities to its sanctions list targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex. This is the largest single sanctions package since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the same time, the EU added seven entities, including a North Korean missile technician and Russian companies involved in supporting North Korean weapons and illicit economic cooperation, to its sanctions list targeting North Korea, striking at the North Korea–Russia partnership.
The Council of the EU said in a statement on the 12th (local time) that it had added a total of 1,569 targets to its new sanctions list against Russia, including 826 Russian companies, 743 executives at those firms, and 77 people involved in sham elections in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. With this measure, the total number of targets designated by the EU for sanctions against Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine has risen to more than 4,600.
The sanctions focus on key mid-sized suppliers at the heart of Russia’s military supply chain. These companies generate at least €20 billion (about 27 trillion won) in annual revenue and employ at least 250,000 people. They have supplied semiconductors and integrated circuits, radar, optical and navigation equipment, explosives and other materials used in missiles, drones, aircraft and satellites.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stressed: “More than half of the newly sanctioned targets are directly connected to the production network for the ballistic missiles Russia uses to kill Ukrainian civilians. Now is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, but to step it up further.”
The EU also added three individuals and four entities involved in supporting North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and in illicit North Korea–Russia cooperation to its independent sanctions list targeting North Korea. This brings the total number of EU sanctions targets concerning North Korea to 80 individuals and 25 entities.
Among those sanctioned over North Korea is Ri Song-jin, a researcher at North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration and an official with the Missile General Bureau, who is suspected of being sent to Russia to support the operation of North Korean missiles. Ri Song-jin is also subject to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ independent sanctions.
On the Russian side, those sanctioned include the major real estate developer Samolet Group, which illegally employed North Korean workers at construction sites in Vladivostok, and its CEO, Anna Akinshina; as well as the holding company Black Horse, which pursued a North Korea–Russia industrial investment joint venture in Primorsky Krai, and its chairman, Vladimir Sokolov. Baekyangsan Shipping, the operator of the North Korean-flagged vessel Baekyangsan No. 1, which transported Russian refined petroleum to North Korea, and Golden Autumn Agroholding, a Black Horse subsidiary, were also added to the sanctions list.
Those placed on the sanctions list have their assets within the EU frozen and are barred from entering the bloc, while all financial transactions and funding involving EU citizens and companies are completely blocked.
The Council of the EU said that “the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, the illegal dispatch of workers, the establishment of joint ventures, and ‘arms-for-oil’ swaps are clear violations of UN Security Council resolutions that pose a serious threat to international peace and security,” and called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a “complete, verifiable and irreversible manner (CVID).”


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