Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was reportedly one of three Russian Ministers to escape European Union sanctions "at the last minute" through Hungarian intervention ©Getty Images

Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was reportedly one of three Russian Ministers to escape European Union (EU) sanctions "at the last minute" through Hungarian intervention.

Russia's official state news agency TASS reports that Hungary insisted the Ministers be excluded from the EU’s ninth package of sanctions on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, citing unnamed diplomats.

Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was reportedly one of three Russian Ministers to escape European Union (EU) sanctions “at the last minute” through Hungarian intervention ©Getty Images
Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was reportedly one of three Russian Ministers to escape European Union (EU) sanctions “at the last minute” through Hungarian intervention ©Getty Images

According to EUobserver, Budapest insisted on sparing Matytsin, Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov and Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.

An announcement was made earlier that the ambassadors of the 27 EU member countries had concurred on the ninth round of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine and that the package would be approved in writing today without any further debate.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a briefing after the EU Summit that the bloc’s individual sanctions in the latest package would target almost 200 people.

European media reported in June that the EU stopped short of imposing sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, the controversial Russian orthodox bishop.