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EU member states agreed on Friday to sanction six Russian nationals linked to the chemical substance suspected of killing Russian dissident Alexei Navalny during his detention in a penal colony.
Those targeted are scientists and researchers involved in Russia’s military chemical weapons programme, most notably in the development of epibatidine, traces of which were found on Navalny’s body after his death in February 2024.
Navalny was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption activist. He was arrested in 2021 on fraud charges after returning to Russia following a failed poisoning attempt in 2020; further extremism-related charges followed later that year.
He was sentenced to 19 years in jail and sent to an Arctic maximum security prison, where he was reported dead on 16 February 2024. European investigations have since concluded that his death resulted from chemical poisoning.
The list of sanctioned individuals includes Igor Babkin, head of the Signal Scientific Centre, the lab considered responsible for synthesising epibatidine.
Irina Derevyagina, a chemical research analyst at Russia’s State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, has also been sanctioned. She is regarded as a central figure in Russia’s chemical weapons programme.
Mikhail Gutsalyuk, head of the scientific department at the Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence, is also on the list.
The sanctions freeze any assets held in the EU, including bank accounts, and impose a bloc-wide travel ban on those listed.