The wife of the Kremlin spokesperson defies sanctions imposed on her and takes legal action against the EU

Brussels – Tatiana Navka, wife of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, has brought legal proceedings against the Council of the European Union, seeking the annulment of her addition to the list of sanctioned people and compensation of over €2 million for the moral, material, and reputational damage she claims to have suffered. This emerges from documents published on Eur-Lex, the official portal containing EU legislation and case law, which show that the case is now before the General Court of the European Union. 

Olympic figure skating champion and a well-known figure in Russian sport in the early 2000s, Navka had been blacklisted by the EU in June 2022, as part of the package of sanctions adopted by the EU Foreign Affairs Council following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since then, she has consistently contested Brussels’ decision. 

In her appeal, Navka contends that the Council committed “an error of law and of assessment of the facts” by including her among those sanctioned for alleged links to actions that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. According to the former athlete, the European Union has never demonstrated the existence of such links nor provided adequate grounds to justify the restrictive measures imposed on her. 

With the filing of the application, proceedings before the General Court of the EU have formally commenced. The Council will now have approximately two months to submit its defence and argue that the sanctions are lawful. Subsequently, the judge-rapporteur will examine the parties’ arguments—including the alleged violation of the right to human dignity and respect for family life raised by Navka—together with any confidential documents produced by the Council. Cases challenging European sanctions generally take between 12 and 24 months to reach a first-instance judgement.