EU, US impose sanctions on Russia over Alexei Navalny poisoning

The US on Tuesday slapped sanctions on Russian individuals and entities over the near-fatal poisoning of prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent, Biden administration officials said.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, the senior White House officials said the sanctions were being imposed in coordination with the European Union, and urged the release of Navalny from prison.

What we know so far

The EU imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the prosecuto general, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service.

Senior White House administration officials did not immediately identify the Russian officials named in the sanctions, stating only that they would impose sanctions on “seven senior members of the Russian government,” with details expected to be released later Tuesday.

Biden officials also announced sanctions under the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act for 13 companies and another enterprise, most of which it said were involved in production of biological and chemical agents

What did EU and US officials say?

Brussels said Bastrykin, Krasnov, Zolotov and Kalashnikov were listed “over their roles in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing of Alexei Navalny, as well as the repression of peaceful protests in connection with his unlawful treatment.’’

A senior US official has stated: “The intelligence community assesses with high confidence that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB used a nerve agent known as Novichok to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on August 20, 2020.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview released Tuesday Washington intends to “take the appropriate actions as we see fit to make very clear that this kind of conduct is unacceptable for us, and we’ll do it with our allies and partners.”

Tuesday’s sanctions mark the first of several steps by the Biden administration to “respond to a number of destabilizing actions,’’ said one of the White House officials.

The sanctions are the first against Russia by the Biden administration.

How did Russia respond?

Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin condemned moves to impose sanctions.

“Those who continue to depend on these measures should probably give it some thought: are they achieving some goal by continuing such a policy?” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“The answer will be obvious: such a policy does not achieve its goals,” he added.

What happened to Navalny?

Navalny fell ill on August 20 during a domestic flight in Russia. Two days later, he was flown to Berlin for treatment while still in a coma.

Tests carried out by the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that he was exposed to a Novichok nerve agent. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden have also confirmed the Soviet-era agent.

The US and several other countries have linked the attack to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security services. Navalny is Putin’s most prominent opponent.

After spending months recovering in Germany, Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon returning to Russia for an alleged parole violation.

His detention prompted street protests across Russia, where police arrested thousands of demonstrators.

Navalny has been transferred to a Russian penal colony to begin serving a sentence.

What happens next?

The EU, which already had imposed sanctions against a small number of Russian officials, is expected to announce more sanctions.

The US has also said it plans to respond soon to the Russian hack of federal government agencies and US corporations which exposed potentially sensitive information to the Kremlin.

The Biden administration has vowed to confront Putin for the alleged hacking abroad, as well as for alleged attacks on Russian opposition figures.