The Biden administration on Friday imposed additional sanctions on nine Russian individuals and two entities linked to Moscow’s chemical weapons program to commemorate the anniversary of the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
The United States announced sanctions in coordination with the United Kingdom, which also targeted several Russian citizens with economic sanctions.
“Navalny’s poisoning was a shocking violation of international standards against the use of chemical weapons and was part of an ongoing campaign to silence the voices of dissent in Russia,” Andrea said in a statement. Gacki, director of the U.S. Foreign Assets Control Office.
The sanctions apply to nine Russians linked to the country’s chemical weapons program or the Federal Security Service, whom the United States has held responsible for Navalny’s poisoning with a nerve agent last year.
“Eight of today’s target individuals have been involved in Russia’s operation to assassinate Navalny. These individuals collaborated to monitor Navalny before the attack, break into his hotel room and apply the chemical weapon to the their personal belongings, and tried to erase any evidence of their post-attack operation, “the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Sanctions will block all property and holdings held by individuals and entities located in the United States.
The sanctions apply to Vladimir Bogdanov, Stanislav Makshakov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, Alexey Alexandrov, Ivan Osipov, Vladimir Panyaev, Aleksei Sedov, Artur Zhirov and Kirill Vasiliev.
The Treasury Department is also headed to the FSB Institute of Criminology in Russia, which is a unit founded under the KGB that reportedly employed most people involved in the Navalny attack.
The sanctions also apply to the Russian State Institute of Military Experimental Medicine, a scientific research organization specializing in security and defense.
Navalny, 45, is a blogger and activist who sincerely criticizes Putin’s government.
Last year he was poisoned with a nervous agent when he returned to Moscow. Although he survived, he was arrested in January when he returned to Russia. A hunger strike that followed raised concerns about his health and the possibility that he could die in prison.
The White House has repeatedly warned Russia of serious consequences if Navalny dies in prison.