The European Union targeted multiple Russian judges with punitive measures through a new sanctions regime adopted on Monday to punish serious human rights violations in Russia.
The new system of sanctions was established following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and targets individuals and organizations responsible for the repression of the opposition.
Navalny's death was "another sign of the accelerating and systematic repression by the Kremlin regime," top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement to announce the sanctions.
In total, 19 persons have been targeted including members of the Russian judiciary, state prosecutors and security officials linked to the imprisonment of Navalny.
Russian officials involved in the prosecution of human rights activist Oleg Orlov were also included.
The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation (FSIN), the central agency for managing prisons in Russia, was also included for abuse of prisoners like Navalany's case, according to the EU.
The EU sanctions regime is specifically set up for human rights abuses in Russia in honour of Navalny.
These punitive measures are separate to the wide-ranging economic sanctions imposed on Russia for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Sanctions likewise include punitive measures, notably entry bans to the EU and a freeze on assets held in the bloc.
After Navalny's death in a penal camp in Siberia in mid-February, EU members imposed sanctions on 33 people from the Russian judiciary and political system in an existing sanctions regime.
The two penal colonies where Navalny was last imprisoned were also added to that EU sanctions list in a symbolic move.
EU foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels to review the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
There is still no agreement reached on a 14th round of sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine. For the first time Russia's lucrative liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector is under consideration.
Among other things, the use of profits from Russian assets frozen in the EU to buy military aid for Ukraine is up for discussion.
Last Tuesday, EU finance ministers gave final approval to use the proceeds of the assets - but not the underlying assets themselves - for "Ukraine's military self-defence and reconstruction," said a post on the X account of the Belgian government, which is chairing talks.
The G7 - which includes the United States, Canada, Britain, and Japan, as well as three EU countries - is also discussing the possibility of using the proceeds of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba briefed EU foreign ministers on the progress of the war by video link at the start of the meeting.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced €60 million ($65 million) in new humanitarian funding for Ukraine on arrival at the meeting.
Another topic for discussion is the tense situation in the Middle East and the war in Gaza.
EU foreign ministers plan to hold informal talks with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, plus the secretary-general of the League of Arab States.
Germany is to increase humanitarian aid for Gaza by nearly €39 million, diplomats told dpa, with the emergency health aid used to help with outbreaks of disease.
Baerbock said the situation in Gaza was terrible and that "this suffering cannot continue for another day" in her call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
