EU imposes sanctions on hackers featured in The Insider’s investigations, along with figures from the International Russophile Movement

The foreign ministers of the EU member states have approved new sanctions against Russia. The measures target 14 individuals and companies. The information was published in the EU’s Official Journal, EUR-Lex.

Among the individuals targeted by the new sanctions are Dmitry Goloshubov, Vladislav Borovkov, and Denis Denisenko — three members of the GRU hacker group from military unit No. 29155 — whose activities The Insider detailed in the article Hidden Bear: The GRU hackers of Russia’s most notorious kill squad. The investigative project Sistema reported in early December that Goloshubov, Borovkov, and Denisenko were candidates for inclusion on the EU sanctions lists. Additionally, the sanctions extend to Russia's 142nd Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion, based in the Kaliningrad Region.

The lists also include the International Russophile Movement — a network of around 77 national and regional branches headquartered in Moscow. The group unites pro-Kremlin politicians, leaders of pro-Russian organizations, propagandists, and Eurosceptics. The EU sanctions lists accuse the movement of “amplifying destabilizing narratives globally.”

Several individuals have also been added to the sanctions lists for their connections to the Valdai Discussion Club:

• Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Valdai International Discussion Club Development and Support Foundation and Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries at Higher School of Economics
• Ivan Timofeev, Program Director of the Valdai Club
• Fyodor Lukyanov, Director of Research at the Valdai Discussion Club
• Dmitry Suslov, geopolitical analyst and frequent speaker at the Valdai Discussion Club
• Andrey Sushentsov, political scientist, Program Director of the Valdai Club, and dean of the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO.

Another individual on the new sanctions list is U.S. citizen John Mark Dougan, who was granted asylum in Russia after fleeing his Florida home in 2016. Dougan is linked to the troll factory Storm-1516 and has been credibly accused of working in the interests of the GRU.