The European Council has sanctioned Xenia Fedorova, a pro-Russian author and commentator, while a Russian publisher, Oleg Polikarpovich Tkach, was cleared of earlier restrictions. These actions are part of broader efforts by the European Union to respond to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The Council froze Fedorova's assets, while the Court of Justice of the European Union overturned a previous decision that had sanctioned Tkach. Fedorova, a media figure linked to billionaire Vincent Bolloré, was sanctioned under a regulation adopted on 24 September 2026. Her book Banned, published in March 2025 by Fayard, had drawn attention, and the French Ministry of the Interior had previously ordered her expulsion, citing her role in spreading Russian propaganda through the Bolloré media group. Fedorova challenged the expulsion, claiming it was an attack on free speech. The new regulation adds her to an annex of an earlier EU measure, 2024/2642, aimed at restricting individuals and entities involved in destabilizing activities linked to Russia. This measure includes freezing assets, banning financial transactions, and restricting travel within the EU. Fedorova is now barred from entering or staying in any of the 27 EU countries and cannot receive a salary within the European space. The Council cited her support for Russian positions on the war in Ukraine, European support for Ukraine, NATO, and the relationship between Russia and the EU. She has also questioned the facts surrounding the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. Oleg Polikarpovich Tkach, a Russian publisher, was removed from the list of sanctioned individuals after the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the Council's decisions from September 2024 and September 2025. Tkach had been on the list since 9 March 2022 and remained there through 2023, 2024, and 2025. The Council had included him based on his role as a former member of the Federation Council, which had ratified treaties with the "People's Republic of Donetsk" and the "People's Republic of Luhansk." These two entities are semi-states created by Russia in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 and have become central to Russia's territorial claims. Tkach was suspected of supporting Russia's expansionist war. The Council later added his role as director and founder of the publishing house OLMA, whose subsidiary Enlightenment was involved in promoting Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Tkach contested his inclusion on the list, claiming he had resigned from the Federation Council in September 2022 and had acquired two new nationalities, making it impossible for him to return to Russian political life. The Court of Justice agreed that his initial inclusion was justified but found a significant error regarding OLMA, which Tkach co-founded in 1991. The Council had stated that Tkach left his role as director in 2004, but he remained connected to the group through a trust, DPK Discretionary Trust, held by his daughter from 2017. By 2021, 75% of the capital of the publishing house Enlightenment was controlled by Russian state institutions, and the remaining 25% was under the DPK Trust until 2025, meaning Tkach could not fully control or influence the company. As a result, the Court of Justice overturned the sanctions against Tkach.