EU and US impose sanctions on Russian officials over Navalny's arrest
The European Union has imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials over the arrest and prosecution of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that the prosecutor general of Russia Igor Krasnov, head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov, and head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov were added to the new sanction list.
Opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who miraculously survived an attempted poisoning with the Novichok nerve agent, was arrested at the airport immediately after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was undergoing medical treatment.
A Russian court then replaced his earlier suspended sentence with 3.5 years in prison.
Foreign ministers of the EU member-states agreed to expand individual sanctions against Russia at a meeting in Brussels on February 22. High Representative of the EU Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, explained that the new sanctions will target the individuals who are “responsible for Navalny’s arbitrary arrest, prosecution, and sentencing”.
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The four individuals on the new sanction list will be banned from entering the EU, and their assets located within the EU will be frozen.
In October last year, the EU imposed another set of sanctions on Russian officials over the poisoning of Navalny with a Novichok nerve agent.
On March 2, the United States also imposed sanctions on the individuals directly responsible for the poisoning and prosecution of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The statement released by President Biden’s administration listed sanctions that will be introduced on several Russian government officials, as well a few legal entities, commercial parties, and a government research institute, all of which are yet to be specified.
The US measures are being taken in coordination with the European Union.
