London, United Kingdom. Britain on Monday imposed sanctions on two Russian research institutes and senior staff it said were linked to Moscow’s chemical weapons programme and involved in developing toxins used to poison Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
The measures come ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara and follow a similar move by the European Union.
Sanctions announcement
The British government said the sanctions were intended to expose and deter Russia’s use of chemical weapons. It said those sanctioned were involved in developing the Novichok nerve agent and Epibatidine.
Foreign minister Yvette Cooper said Russia’s “repeated use of chemical weapons” was a violation of international law and a threat to global security.
Navalny poisoning cases
In 2020, Navalny fell seriously ill on a flight in Siberia and Western laboratories concluded he had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, a class of military-grade nerve agents developed during the Soviet era.
In 2024, Navalny died after being poisoned with Epibatidine, a toxin from poison dart frogs, Britain and other European allies have said. Russia denied accusations it was behind that death.
Previous Novichok attack
Cooper said: “From the use of Novichok nerve agents in Salisbury to Epibatidine in Siberia, poisoning Dawn Sturgess and Alexei Navalny, Russia continues to use barbaric tools to inflict death and suffering on innocent civilians, including in Ukraine.”
Novichok was also used in the 2018 poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. They survived the attack, but civilian Dawn Sturgess later died after coming into contact with a discarded container of the substance.
Response and inquiry findings
Russia’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the new sanctions.
A British public inquiry concluded last year that Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the attack on Skripal by GRU intelligence operatives.
