The EU Council imposed sanctions today on six Russian scientists and researchers. These are scientists involved in the development of chemical weapons, including epibatidine, the toxin detected in samples taken from Alexei Navalny’s body following his death on February 16, 2024, in a remote Russian detention facility. According to the Council’s statement regarding these sanctions, poisoning with epibatidine was deemed the most likely cause of death for the Russian dissident.

Those sanctioned are military officials and researchers directly involved in the research and development of chemical substances for military use. Among those targeted by the new measures is Igor Babkin, head of the laboratory at the Signal Scientific Center, where research was conducted and studies published on the synthesis of epibatidine, contributing to its conversion into a chemical weapon. Also included is Irina Derevyagina, a chemical analyst at the State Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology and a key figure in the Russian chemical weapons program, and Mikhail Gutsaliuk, head of the department for the organization of scientific work and training of scientific personnel at the Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense.

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The measures adopted by the member states include the freezing of assets in the EU, a ban on the provision of financial resources, direct or indirect, to those subject to sanctions, as well as a ban on entry into and residence in the EU for individuals. With today’s decisions, the list of those sanctioned for the use and proliferation of chemical weapons now totals 31 individuals and 6 legal entities.

With this decision, the EU reaffirms its determination to combat the proliferation and use of chemical weapons, as well as to support the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.

On March 22, 2018, the European Council, in its Conclusions, condemned the use of chemical weapons, characterizing it as utterly unacceptable and a threat to everyone’s security, while on October 15 of the same year, the legal framework for restrictive measures against the proliferation of chemical weapons was adopted. The measures adopted on Friday are in effect until October 16, 2026, with the possibility of renewing or amending the sanctions list at any time. The relevant legal acts have already been published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Source: CNA