GEJOLAK.COM –
The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on Russia on charges of poisoning Alexei Navalny’s lead with Novichok poison.
US sanctions were imposed on seven Russian officials and 14 entities created by senior administration official of President Joe Biden.
Navalny, 44, fell ill on a flight over Siberia in August and was flown to Germany, where doctors concluded he had been poisoned with neurons. The Kremlin denied this was in his illness and said it saw no evidence of him being poisoned.
Navalny was arrested in January on his return from Germany after undergoing treatment for poisoning, which many Western countries say is a military-grade nerve agent. He was jailed on February 2 for being unconditional and sent to the colony on Monday.
US officials have not identified the person or entity to be targeted for sanctions.
US officials say Navalny, a critic and political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was targeted for asking questions about Russian corruption and is the latest example of Russia’s efforts to silence dissent.
“The Russian attempt to assassinate Navalny follows an alarming pattern of chemical weapons use by Russia,” a senior US official told reporters by telephone, as quoted by Reuters on Wednesday (3/3/2021), without commenting on his name.
American officials senior officials of the Russian government will impose sanctions, freezing documents.
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In addition, 14 entities associated with the production of Russian biological and chemical agents, including 13 commercial parties – nine in Russia, three in Germany and one in Switzerland – and a Russian government research institute, were subject to sanctions.
On the same day, the European Union also imposed mostly symbolic sanctions on four senior Russian officials close to Putin. The imposition of sanctions is a move agreed by EU ministers last week in response to Navalny’s imprisonment.
EU sanctions are prepared for Alexander Bastrykin, who has turned into an Investigative Committee that inquires about major criminals and reports them to Putin; Igor Krasnov, Russian public prosecutor since 2020; Viktor Zolotov, head of the Russian National Guard who threatened Navalny with violence in 2018; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the federal prison service.
The EU sanctions failed to meet calls by Navalny’s supporters to punish the wealthy businessmen around Putin who are known as oligarchs who travel regularly to the EU.
