By Gabriela Baczynska
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A top European Union court on Wednesday annulled sanctions against the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group fighting in Ukraine.
The EU had blacklisted Violetta Prigozhina, saying business links with her son made her complicit in Russia’s aggression against its neighbour.
“The General Court annuls the restrictive measures applied to Ms Violetta Prigozhina… in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the bloc’s second highest court said.
“Even if the latter is responsible for actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, the link between Ms Prigozhina and her son established at the time of the adoption of the contested acts is based solely on their family relationship and is therefore not sufficient to justify her inclusion on the contested lists.”
The EU had blacklisted Violetta Prigozhina a day before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago on Feb.24.
The bloc said at the time that she had played a role in the actions of her son, who deployed fighters in Ukraine and had secured Russian defence contracts following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Kyiv in 2014 and the ensuing backing of rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Prigozhina’s challenge said the EU had failed to specify reasons for her blacklisting and sanctioned her only to put pressure on her son, according to the General Court.
“It cannot legitimately be inferred from the links to her son that she may have contributed to compromising the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” according to information describing her challenge published by the General Court.
The ruling can be appealed to the bloc’s top court, the Court of Justice of the EU.
The EU executive European Commission was analysing the decision, a spokesman said.
Reuters could not immediately reach Prigozhin, his mother or the lawyer representing her for comment.
Separately on Wednesday, Prigozhin said his forces had captured part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
EU sanctions remain in place against Prigozhin, his wife and son, some senior Wagner figures and the group’s collaborators in Syria.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
