The General Court of the European Union rejected the lawsuit of the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who tried to challenge the EU Council’s decision to impose sanctions on him.
Yanukovych claimed that the Council of the EU “did not have sufficient evidence” to include it in the sanctions lists and referred to “unverified materials”. At the same time, the court concluded that the Council had sufficient grounds for introducing restrictive measures.
The decision of the EU Court emphasizes that Viktor Yanukovych is responsible for actions and policies that threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, in particular for supporting Russian intervention. The court emphasized the particular seriousness of his actions in 2012–2014: appealing to Russia for a military invasion of Ukraine, supporting pro-Russian political forces, and deliberately weakening the state’s defense capabilities, which caused destabilization. His recent participation in the Kremlin’s plan to remove the current president of Ukraine in early March 2022 was also taken into account.
Let us remind you that for the first time the EU introduced sanctions against Yanukovych in 2014, when his assets were frozen and entry to member countries was prohibited. In 2022, after the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the restrictions were expanded.
In January 2019, the Ukrainian court found Yanukovych guilty of treason and aiding and abetting the waging of 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 him to 13 years in prison. In April 2025, he was also found guilty of organizing illegal transportation of persons across the state border 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.
