FAKE: Ukraine imposed sanctions on the European Commission over statements about human rights violations

Information is being spread online claiming that the Ukrainian government added the European Commission to its sanctions list. As proof, the authors of the post attached a screenshot of the corresponding decision from the state sanctions registry. The post claims that the commission manipulated international law based on a statement by the Venice Commission about human rights violations by the Ukrainian government.

However, this is fake. The propagandists confused the European Commission with a body of the Council of Europe — the European Commission for Democracy through Law, also known as the Venice Commission. There are no records of either of these bodies in the state sanctions registry, and neither has accused Ukraine of human rights violations.

The propagandists made a mistake even in the name of the institutions. In the post, they claimed that sanctions were imposed on the European Commission — the executive body of the EU — referring to it as the “European Commission for Democracy through Law”. In reality, this body has nothing to do with the EU; it is an advisory body of the Council of Europe (a different organization), also known as the “Venice Commission“. The fake mixes up these names and presents them as different institutions, when in fact they refer to the same one.

The website of the state sanctions registry contains no data about the European Commission for Democracy through Law. A search by the identifier shown in the screenshot also yielded no results.

The screenshot lists “EU” as the registration country — another attempt by the authors of the fake to present the European Commission for Democracy through Law as the EU’s European Commission. At the same time, in the “filters” section of the website, the EU is not listed among the territories where sanctioned individuals or organizations are located. The Ukrainian government or media have also not reported any sanctions against the European Commission (EU) or the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Council of Europe).

Moreover, under Ukrainian law, sanctions can be imposed on foreign states and foreign legal or natural persons, or entities under the control of such persons. The grounds include:

• actions that pose a threat to national interests, national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine;
• terrorist activity;
• violations of human and citizen rights and freedoms, public and state interests;
• harm to the natural environment;
• other actions contrary to the national security interests of Ukraine.

Thus, it is highly unlikely that sanctions could be imposed for “manipulating international law”.

In addition, the Venice Commission did not accuse Ukraine of human rights violations. In March 2025, it published an opinion on alternative service at the request of the then Acting Chair of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The document states that for people who refuse to fight due to their beliefs, Ukraine must ensure an alternative service without the need to carry or use weapons. The commission did not insist on any decisions being made and did not accuse Ukraine of anything.