European Union prepares sanctions package targeting 1,600 Russian entities

The European Union is assembling what could be its most sweeping sanctions expansion since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with a draft package targeting roughly 1,600 individuals and legal entities tied to Moscow’s war machine. The proposal, split evenly between 800 people and 800 organizations, is set for discussion at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Ireland on October 16, with adoption expected by mid-October. If finalized, the package would push the EU’s total sanctions designations against Russia to well over 4,000. That’s a staggering number for a regime that was already one of the most extensive in the bloc’s history, currently covering nearly 3,000 individuals and entities. What the new package targets The European External Action Service has reportedly spent months building the target list, with a particular focus on Russia’s military-industrial complex. The emphasis this time isn’t just on the obvious players. It’s on the companies and intermediaries that found ways to sidestep earlier rounds of restrictions. The new designations aim to disrupt those evasion networks at a more granular level, going after the specific nodes in supply chains and operation...