A top European Union court on Wednesday annulled sanctions against the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying the bloc failed to prove her role in the actions of her son, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group fighting in Ukraine.
The annulment was rare amid EU sanctions against Russia, many of which were imposed promptly, that cover nearly 1,700 individuals and entities, as well as trade restrictions worth tens of billions of dollars.
The EU had blacklisted Violetta Prigozhina, saying business links with her son made her complicit in Russia’s aggression against its neighbour.
“The General Court annuls the restrictive measures applied to Ms Violetta Prigozhina… in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” the bloc’s second highest court said.
The ruling said the EU failed to provide proof of the mother’s role in Prigozhin’s actions, and her blacklisting was “based solely on their family relationship.”
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The ruling takes effect if an appeal window of two months and ten days lapses, or if the decision is upheld in appeal, said a spokesman for the court.
“That is not reassuring, of course everyone in the EU would rather see the opposite ruling,” said an EU official who spoke under condition of anonymity due to the legal nature of the matter. “But we have to analyse it now and understand the justification, maybe not all is lost.”
Prigozhin did not instantly respond to a request for comment and Reuters could not immediately reach his mother for comment.
A lawyer for Prigozhina and his law firm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The EU had blacklisted Violetta Prigozhina a day before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago on Feb.24, meaning she could not travel to the bloc and her assets held in the union were frozen.
