US sets sanctions over Russia opposition leader's poisoning

Washington - The sanctions are the first against Russia by the Biden administration

The Biden administration has announced sanctions of Russian officials and businesses related to the poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny

The Biden administration announced sanctions of Russian officials and businesses on Tuesday for a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack upon opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.

Senior administration officials did not immediately identify the Russian officials targeted. The Biden administration also announced sanctions under the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act for 14 businesses and another enterprise, most of which it said were involved in production of biological and chemical agents.

The US intelligence community concluded with high confidence that Russia’s Federal Security Service used the Russian nerve agent Novichok on the dissident last August, a senior administration official said.

Tuesday’s sanctions would be the first of several steps by the Biden administration to “respond to a number of destabilizing actions,” said one of the administration officials, who briefed reporters on the condition they not be identified further.

The sanctions are the first against Russia by the Biden administration, which has pledged to confront President Vladimir Putin for alleged attacks on Russian opposition figures and hacking abroad, including of US government agencies and US businesses. President Donald Trump had spoken admiringly of Putin and resisted criticism and many proposed penalties of Putin’s government.

The Biden administration coordinated the sanctions with the European Union, which already had imposed sanctions against a small number of Russian officials in Navalny’s case.