The EU is preparing personal sanctions against FSIN employees involved in the torture and murder of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina

The European Union plans to introduce personal sanctions against employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service involved in the torture and murder of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina, as well as against security forces and judges involved in political persecution. As Sistema reports , the sanctions list will include FSIN employees responsible for torturing Ukrainian prisoners in the Taganrog pre-trial detention center-2, where, according to the EU, Roshchina died in September 2024.

According to Sistema, the sanctions will also affect judges and investigators who took part in the political persecution of journalists and activists. The decision to introduce restrictions on November 12 was approved by the ambassadors of the EU countries. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Rikard Jozwiak announced on Twitter that the sanctions had been agreed upon, adding that the list included 10 Russian citizens, including four jailers responsible for the death of Victoria Roshchina.

Persons on the sanctions list (according to Sistema):

• Andrey Polyakov - head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Rostov region; according to the EU assessment, under his leadership in SIZO-2 (Taganrog), Ukrainian prisoners were subjected to torture, beatings and deprivation of medical care; in September 2024, Victoria Roshchina died in this institution;
• Andrey Mikhailichenko - deputy head of pre-trial detention center-2 for security and operational work; according to the EU, is responsible for torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners;
• Andrey Sapitsky - Deputy Director for Personnel Issues of Pre-trial Detention Center-2; is included in the group of persons to whom the sanctions regime will be applied for their role in the system of torture;
• Alexander Shtoda - director of pre-trial detention center-2; Ukrainian intelligence and media investigations name him responsible for the deaths of at least 15 Ukrainian prisoners;
• Timur Vakhrameev , a judge of the Basmanny Court in Moscow, extended the arrests of lawyers and journalists associated with Navalny’s cases;
• Artemy Telminov - investigator of the Investigative Committee, led investigations against journalists and lawyers associated with FBK and Navalny's team;
• Boris Kozhevnikov - Deputy Chairman of the Military Court of Appeal; participated in approving sentences in politically motivated cases, including the case of Alexei Gorinov;
• Maxim Panin , a judge of the same court, took part in approving verdicts in political cases;
• Marina Ushakova , a judge of the same court, took part in approving verdicts in political cases;
• Svetlana Rygalova is a prosecutor who supported the charge against Gorinov under the article of “justification of terrorism.”

Earlier, the Ukrainian publication Slidstvo.info published an investigation according to which Roshchina died not in Taganrog, but in a pre-trial detention center in the Perm region. Journalists claim that in September 2024, Roshchina was transferred from Taganrog pre-trial detention center-2 to pre-trial detention center-3 in Kizel in the Perm region, where she died on September 19 at the age of 27 years. According to the testimony of a former Ukrainian prisoner of war, in Kizel, prisoners were beaten until they lost consciousness, and women had their heads cut. The Russian authorities acknowledged the fact of Roshchina’s detention only in May 2024, and her body, transferred to Ukraine in February 2025, showed signs of torture, and parts of the internal organs were missing.