Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in a glass compartment during a court hearing at the Babushkinsky District Court in Moscow, Feb. 20, 2021.
Moscow is accused of trying to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year (2020). The U.S. and Europe unanimously imposed sanctions on Russian-related officials and entities on Tuesday (March 2).
Reuters reported that senior Biden administration officials announced sanctions against seven Russian officials and 14 entities on Tuesday.
Navalny, 44, was flown to Germany for treatment after falling ill on a flight in Siberia last August. Doctors concluded he had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. The Kremlin has denied any involvement and said it has seen no evidence that he was poisoned.
Navalny was arrested in January after returning to Russia from Germany following his treatment, and on Feb. 2 he was jailed for violating his parole, a charge he said was politically motivated. On Monday, he was sent to a correctional facility.
The Central News Agency (CNA) reported that the U.S. Treasury Department noted that the assets of seven senior Russian officials in the United States, including Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), will be frozen and any dealings with them in the United States will be prosecuted.
Last October, the European Union (EU) also imposed sanctions on Bortnikov because of the Navalny poisoning case, including freezing his assets and imposing a travel ban on him.
In addition to Portnikov, the U.S. sanctions also target Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service in the Russian Federation.
In addition, the sanctions also include 14 entities related to the production of Russian chemical and biological agents, with 13 companies – nine in Russia, three in Germany and one in Switzerland – and a Russian government research institute, all on the sanctions list.
Senior U.S. officials said, “Intelligence agencies are confident in their assessment that it was the Russian Federal Security Service that used the nerve agent called ‘Novichok’ to poison opposition leader Navalny on Aug. 20, 2020. “
U.S. officials reiterated Biden’s call for Russia to release Navalny.
EU, U.S. Offer Sanctions in Tandem
On Tuesday, the European Union acted in concert with the United States to impose mostly symbolic sanctions on four senior Russian officials with close ties to Vladimir Putin. It was an agreement reached by EU ministers last week in response to Navalny’s jailing.
The EU sanctions include Alexander Bastrykin, whose investigative committee handles major criminal investigations and reports to Putin; Igor Krasnov, who has been Russia’s justice minister since 2020; Viktor Zolotov, the head of the Russian National Guard, who threatened Navalny with violence in 2018; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service.
Prior to the U.S. sanctions announcement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would respond similarly to any new round of U.S. sanctions over Navalny, Interfax reported.
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