U.S. sanctions Russian FSB employees responsible for Navalny poisoning
U.S. sanctions Russian FSB employees responsible for Navalny poisoning (Getty Images)
Today, on August 17, the United States imposed new sanctions against Russia. Four employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) fell under the restrictions, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The reason behind the sanctions
"Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is once again taking action to hold the Government of Russia accountable for its poisoning of Russian opposition politician Aleksey Navalny three years ago on August 20, 2020," the statement reads.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said that by doing this, they remind Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people.
Navalny's poisoning
On August 20, 2020, about 30 minutes into the flight back to Moscow after a pre-election campaign in Tomsk and Novosibirsk, Navalny became seriously ill, leading to an emergency landing in Omsk, where he was treated by local hospital staff.
The U.S. government believes that FSB employees used the Novichok nerve agent (chemical weapon) to poison Navalny.
The Russian operation against Navalny reportedly involved multiple individuals who were on the ground in both Tomsk and Omsk, as well as operatives coordinating the situation from afar.
These individuals collaborated to surveil Navalny ahead of the attack, break into his hotel room and apply the chemical weapon to his personal belongings, and they attempted to erase any evidence of their operation following the attack.
Who are on the sanctions list
Today, OFAC imposed sanctions on:
- Alexey Alexandrovich Alexandrov - an employee of the FSB Criminalistics Institute;
- Konstantin Kudryavtsev - operative of the FSB Criminalistics Institute;
- Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov - an employee of the FSB Criminalistics Institute;
- Vladimir Alexandrovich Panyaev - operative of the FSB.
According to the U.S., they are connected to Navalny's poisoning and acted as agents of Russian government officials.
U.S. sanctions against Russia
Yesterday, the United States imposed sanctions against a company in Russia for its ties to North Korea.
Prior to this, the United States imposed sanctions against Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.
At the beginning of August, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions against the Russian Academy of Sciences and its structures. The Kazan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences was also included in the list.
