Mikhail Fridman's lawyer told the EU court that sanctions "destroyed" the billionaire's life

The European Court of General Jurisdiction began to consider the lawsuit filed by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman against the Council of the European Union because of the sanctions imposed against him after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to Bloomberg, one of Friedman's lawyers, Thierry Marember, said that due to EU sanctions, the life of the billionaire was "destroyed."

According to the lawyer, the accusation of the EU in Friedman's ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin "has a very negative impact on his life and is not based on anything." The lawyer added that the EU's evidence "is not credible".

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Friedman gave an interview in which he spoke about the difficulties he faced after the imposition of sanctions, for example, he complained that he could not pay for the services of a cleaner.

• Forbes magazine estimates Mikhail Fridman's fortune at $12.6 billion. Friedman has been living in the UK since 2015. After a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions were imposed on the businessman by the EU and the UK. Friedman denounced the war as a "tragedy" but did not directly oppose Vladimir Putin.
• Mikhail Fridman, like his business partners Petr Aven and German Khan, as well as many other Russian billionaires, including Roman Abramovich, are trying to challenge EU sanctions. Friedman denies that he benefited from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• The Schemes project has established that the AlfaStrakhovanie company, co-owned by Mikhail Fridman, insures the vehicles of the Russian Guardsmen fighting in Ukraine.