EU adds 1,600 Russia sanctions over war, Kallas says

The European Union imposed nearly 1,600 sanctions on companies and people tied to Russia’s military-industrial complex on Oct. 12, EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

Kallas said the package was the EU’s single largest expansion of sanctions, with more than half of the nearly 1,600 targets connected to ballistic-missile supply chains.

The decision was taken at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, where Russia’s war against Ukraine was the top item on the agenda.

"Europe is again showing a united front. More than half are connected to the production chain for ballistic missiles. We are making it significantly harder, slower and more expensive for Russia to produce the weapons it uses to kill Ukrainians," Kallas said in the statement.

Sanctions are one of the EU’s main nonmilitary tools for pressuring Russia over the war. They can restrict access to finance, technology, trade and travel, depending on the legal measures adopted and the people or entities listed.

Ahead of the Luxembourg meeting, Kallas said the measures would also cover people and entities linked to Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories.

The package targets Russia’s capacity to produce weapons used in Ukraine, according to Kallas, and extends the EU’s sanctions campaign as the war continues.

Source: news article, Firstpost, Oct. 12, 2026