EU Imposes Sanctions on Six Russians Linked to Navalny Poisoning Case]

< Europe's executive body announced targeted restrictions against Russian scientists allegedly tied to the nerve agent poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The measures, adopted by EU foreign ministers on Friday, blacklist six individuals connected to the production of a toxic substance used in Navalny's 2020 attempted assassination in Siberya. Those sanctioned include Igor Babkin, head of the Signal Scientific Centre, the research facility linked to synthesizing the chemical agent epibatidine — a compound detected postmortem in Navalny’s system following his death in a Russian penal colony in February 2024. Irina Derevyagina, a senior researcher at Russia’s state-owned Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, was also named. She is believed to play a key role in Moscow’s chemical weapons program. Additional names on the list include Mikhail Gutsalyuk, head of the chemical and biological defense scientific department at the Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence. The EU measures freeze personal assets and ban travel to member states for those listed. Navalny, who led Russia’s most high-profile anti-corruption movement before his imprisonment in 2021, died suddenly while serving a 19-year sentence in the Arctic. His death comes amid mounting international scrutiny over the circumstances surrounding his poisoning two years ago — an attack for which Western intelligence agencies blame Russian security services.]

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