Russian officials hit with sanctions by the US and EU
THE US imposed sanctions on the director of Russia’s FSB security agency last night after concluding it carried out the poisoning attack on Vladimir Putin’s leading critic Alexei Navalny.
Alexander Bortnikov, who has led the KGB’s successor since 2008, was one of seven senior Russian officials targeted. Others included Russia’s prisons administrator Alexander Kalashnikov, domestic policy chief Andrei Yarin, and deputy defence ministers Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said: “The US government has exercised its authorities to send a clear signal that Russia’s use of chemical weapons, and abuse of human rights, have severe consequences.”
Those sanctioned will have any US assets frozen, US transactions with them subject to prosecution, and they will not be able to travel to the US.
The largely symbolic action was the first taken against Russia by Joe Biden, five weeks into his presidency. US officials said it was intended to signal a tougher line against the Kremlin than was pursued by Donald Trump.
The US also announced sanctions against 13 Russian businesses, and a government research institute.
Officials said they were targeting companies involved in producing materials that could be used in biological and chemical agents. They also renewed demands Mr Navalny, the opposition leader, be released from jail.
US intelligence agents had determined with “high confidence” that the FSB used the nerve agent Novichok against Mr Navalny in August, a senior official in Washington said.
Mr Navalny fell violently ill during a domestic flight and was rushed for treatment in Germany, where doctors diagnosed Novichok poisoning.
He returned to Moscow in January and was arrested.
There were no US sanctions specifically aimed at Vladimir Putin or oligarchs loyal to him.
A US official said the sanctions were drawn up in “close contact” with the EU and the UK. Hours later, the EU sanctioned four Russians for their role in the jailing of Mr Navalny and the crackdown on demonstrations against his imprisonment.
The bloc used its new Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime to punish the Russian officials with travel bans and asset freezes.
Those targeted included Alexander Bastrykin, whose Investigative Committee handles inquiries into major crimes and reports directly to Mr Putin.
Dominic Raab, the British foreign secretary, welcomed the sanctions. He said: “We will continue to work closely with international partners to hold Russia to account for failing to uphold their chemical weapons and human rights obligations.”
Denouncing the sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Such a policy does not achieve its goals.” (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)