EU sanctions Russians over cybercrime and human rights violation

EU has taken restrictive measures against Russian individuals because of their alleged involvement in cybercrime and actions linked to human rights abuses.

The European Union on Monday broadened sanctions against Russia to include individuals and entities responsible for cybercrime and human rights ‌violations, naming popular social media app VKontakte among them.

Why it matters?

VKontakte and its daughter company Communication Platform LLC were added to the list for their role in developing and managing the MaxApp for Russian smartphones, under the supervision of the FSB security agency.

The app is pre-installed on all mobile devices sold in Russia.

EU countries said MaxApp was used for repression of critics of Russia's war against Ukraine and of people who posted other content banned by authorities.

Restrictive measures were also imposed on ‌Citadel, VAS Experts and Norsi-Trans companies that manufacture, develop, and sell hardware and software related to a surveillance system that monitors phone calls, emails, text messages, and social networks.

The EU said this network targets journalists, opposition figures, minority groups, and ordinary citizens.

As reported the European Union also imposed sanctions on officers from Russia's military intelligence service GRU, cybercriminals and companies that it said were active in Russia's efforts to destabilise Europe.

It also accused the FSB of controlling "a variety of cyber threat groups".

EU imposes sanctions on Russians over human rights and cybercrime in first-ever coordinated digital blacklist package with the UK.

Western officials stated the crackdown is a direct response to a massive, years-long hybrid campaign designed to sabotage European critical infrastructure and silence domestic opposition within Russia.