EU imposes sanctions on six Russians for developing poison that killed Navalny

The European Union has imposed sanctions on six Russians it believes are involved in the development of chemical weapons, including the substance epibatidine, traces of which were found in the body of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny after his death.

This was reported by the Council of the EU.

The European Union froze the assets of Russians, banned anyone in the EU from transferring money or property to them, and also banned them from entering EU countries.

The sanctions list includes scientists and researchers who worked with epibatidine. In particular, sanctions were imposed against the head of the laboratory of the Signal scientific center Igor Babkin, and the head of one of the units of the Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Protection Mikhail Gutsalyuk.

In addition, sanctions were imposed against Irina Derevyagina, an analyst at the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology. The institution where she works is said to be the main institution of Russiaʼs chemical weapons program.

In total, the EU has already imposed sanctions against 31 individuals and six organizations involved in the use and proliferation of chemical weapons.

• Navalny died on February 16, 2024, in a prison camp. After independent investigations, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden said that a poisonous substance was found in tissue samples from his body. His family and associates blame the Russian authorities for the politicianʼs death.

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