The EU imposed sanctions against Russian spies who carried out sabotage abroad

The sanctions list included GRU military unit 29155, whose employees organized a series of explosions of ammunition depots and poisonings in Europe

The European Council for the first time introduced sanctions against 16 individuals and 3 legal entities for committing “destabilizing actions abroad.” This is stated on the website of the European Council.

The list included GRU military unit 29155, spies from which organized a series of explosions of ammunition depots and poisonings in Europe. The Insider wrote about this. Sanctions were also imposed against the head of this military unit, General Andrei Averyanov.

Several more GRU employees were added to the sanctions list: Colonel Denis Smolyaninov, who specializes in conducting psychological operations, and his subordinates Vladimir Lipchenko and Yuri Sizov. The Dossier Center wrote about their activities. They carried out sabotage in Europe, recruiting criminals and ordinary people through Telegram and Tiktok. In particular, Smolyaninov’s group is behind the action in Paris, when several Moldovan citizens painted buildings with Stars of David.

The former assistant of pro-Russian Bundestag member Eugen Schmidt, Vladimir Sergienko, was also included in the sanctions list. Earlier, journalists found out that he was a Russian spy. Sergienko organized speeches by deputies of the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany party and coordinated their speeches with an employee of the Fifth Service of the FSB (operational information and international relations). “Important Stories” wrote more about Schmidt’s connections with Russia here →

Also subject to sanctions were Russian propagandist Tina Kandelaki and editor-in-chief of the African Initiative Artem Kureev. The African Initiative is a Russian media organization created after the death of Prigozhin. It included structures that were previously at the disposal of the Wagner PMC. The Africa Initiative is dedicated to spreading disinformation and Russian propaganda in Africa.

Today the EU adopted the 15th package of anti-Russian sanctions. There were 54 people and 30 organizations that “undermine or threaten the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, 52 ships with the help of which Russia circumvents sanctions, 32 “entities” that support the Russian military-industrial complex.