Court rejects Yanukovych's appeal to cancel EU sanctions imposed on him
The General Court of the European Union has rejected the claim of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who challenged the EU Council's decision to impose sanctions on him.
Yanukovych argued that the Council "did not have sufficient evidence" to include him on the sanctions lists and referred to "unverified materials." However, the court recognized that the Council had proper grounds to impose sanctions.
The decision of the EU Court of Justice states that Viktor Yanukovych is responsible for actions and policies that posed a threat to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, in particular for supporting Russian interference. The Court emphasizes the particular seriousness of his actions in 2012-2014: requesting Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, supporting pro-Russian politicians and voluntarily weakening the state’s defense capabilities, which contributed to destabilization. In addition, it took into account his recent participation in the Kremlin’s plan to remove the current president of Ukraine in early March 2022.
Sanctions were first imposed on the ex-president in 2014. His assets were frozen and he was banned from entering EU member states. In 2022, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions were expanded.
In January 2019, Yanukovych was convicted of high treason and aiding and abetting in waging an aggressive war (Part 1 of Article 111, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced to 13 years in prison. In April 2025, Yanukovych was found guilty of organizing the illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine and inciting desertion (Part 2 of Article 332, Part 4 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced to 15 years in prison.