On October 8, 2026, the Council of the European Union decided to prolong the individual restrictive measures against those responsible for Russia's destabilising activities abroad by one year, until October 9, 2027, under Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643. The Council press release states that the measures stay in place in light of Russia's continued and intensified hybrid activities, including foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) against the EU, its member states and partners. EU banks and payment institutions that hold or move funds for persons on the Russia hybrid-activities list, EU insurers and brokers that could provide economic resources to those listed persons or entities, EU crypto-asset service providers screening the same list, and EU companies that could make funds or economic resources available to the 80 listed individuals and 20 entities must immediately keep the asset freeze and the ban on making funds or economic resources available in force, and set the regime end date in screening systems to October 9, 2027, or making funds or economic resources available to a listed person or entity breaches the asset-freeze prohibition, which member states enforce under the regime.
The prolongation does not add names. The same 80 individuals and 20 entities remain listed, and natural persons stay under a travel ban on entry into or transit through EU territories. The previous application date was October 9, 2026. October 9, 2027 is the new end of the regime, not a later date by which screening may start.
What did the Council change on October 8, 2026?
The Council extended the existing individual measures by one year. It did not announce new listings, and it did not adopt a new Russia sanctions package or the awaited evaluation of the dual-use export-control regulation.
The framework was set up on October 8, 2024 against actions and policies of the Russian government that undermine the values, security, independence and integrity of the EU and its member states, and against persons responsible for Russia's hybrid activities toward third countries and international organisations. The European Council conclusions of June 18 and 19, 2026 condemned hybrid attacks on the Union and its member states and named Russia and Belarus among the hostile actors.
| Point | Before October 8, 2026 | After the prolongation |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis of the individual measures | Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643 | Same decision, prolonged |
| Listed persons | 80 individuals and 20 entities | Unchanged: 80 individuals and 20 entities |
| Measures on listed persons | Asset freeze, ban on making funds or economic resources available, travel ban for natural persons | Same measures, kept in force |
| End of application | October 9, 2026 | October 9, 2027 |
Who must keep the hybrid-activities list in screening systems?
Anyone in the EU who could make funds, financial assets or economic resources available to a listed person or entity is in scope. The Council states that EU citizens and companies are forbidden from doing so.
That covers EU banks and payment institutions that hold or move funds for listed persons, EU insurers and brokers that could provide economic resources to them, EU crypto-asset service providers that screen the same list, and other EU companies whose payments, contracts or assets could reach the 80 individuals or 20 entities. The travel ban on natural persons does not replace the funds prohibition for the company that deals with them.
What must screening teams do immediately?
Keep the asset freeze and the prohibition on making funds or economic resources available switched on for every name already on this list. Do not treat October 9, 2026 as a lapse date. Write October 9, 2027 as the regime end date in the screening system, in case files, and in any internal calendar that was set to the previous application date.
Re-check open accounts, policies, payments and crypto-asset relationships against the 80 individuals and 20 entities. Confirm that list-expiry jobs and vendor feeds do not drop these names because the old end date has passed. The consolidated text of Decision (CFSP) 2024/2643 dated July 13, 2026 is the reference for the measures as they stood before this prolongation. When the Official Journal publishes the prolonging act, align the internal citation to that text. The Council page on EU sanctions against Russia's hybrid activities is background, not a substitute for the decision.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring is what surfaces a prolongation of this kind the moment the Council publishes it, before a screening feed still shows the previous end date.
What happens if funds are made available anyway?
Making funds or economic resources available to a listed person or entity breaches the asset-freeze prohibition. Member states enforce that prohibition under the regime. The October 8, 2026 decision does not publish a new EU-level fine amount. National penalty rules stay the ones already applicable to breaches of this asset freeze.
A travel-ban breach is a separate issue for the listed natural person seeking entry or transit. It does not excuse a bank, insurer, broker, crypto-asset service provider or other company that releases funds or economic resources.
Verify that the 80 individuals and 20 entities stay blocked. Replace any October 9, 2026 end date with October 9, 2027. Brief sanctions, payments, insurance and crypto-asset teams that the list did not shrink. Update the citation when the Official Journal publishes the prolonging act. Obsidian tracks this regime as it is prolonged and enforced.
