BRUSSELS

The EU Court of Justice on Wednesday annulled sanctions against the mother of Russia’s Wagner Group chief Yevgeniy Prigozhin, stating that her blacklisting was "based solely on their family relationship."

The General Court decided to approve the appeal of Violetta Prigozhina against the EU decision to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on her.

Her son, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Wagner private military company.

Even if Prigozhin is “responsible for actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the sanctions are “based solely on their family relationship and is therefore not sufficient to justify her inclusion on the contested lists,” the court said.

The sanctions decision stated that Prigozhina owned on paper some of her son’s companies.

The court dismissed this reasoning and said that Prigozhina did not own shares in her son’s firms since 2017.

The Council of the European Union, which decided on the sanctions, can appeal against the decision.

The judgment may open a path for further demands on abolishing sanctions since over 100 cases for annulation have been filed to the court.