UK sanctions Russians over Navalny poison as Arctic tensions rise

Britain has sanctioned nine Russian people and entities over the toxins used against Alexei Navalny and Sergei Skripal. The move sharpens London's confrontation with Moscow after a Russian aircraft's unsafe approach to Royal Navy ships in the Arctic.

In Short

• Seven individuals and two institutes were accused of developing banned toxins
• Britain linked epibatidine poisoning to Navalny's death in an Arctic prison
• Novichok from the same network was used in Salisbury against Skripal

Britain on Monday imposed sanctions on nine Russian people and entities it said were involved in developing chemical weapons used to kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny and to attack former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in England. The move came on the same day that the UK also criticised what it called Russia's "unsafe" conduct towards Royal Navy vessels in the Arctic.

The Foreign Office said the sanctions target seven people and two scientific institutes. It said they were involved in creating the epibatidine toxin used to poison Navalny in an Arctic penal colony in 2024 and the Novichok nerve agent used in the 2018 Salisbury attack on Skripal. The attack left Skripal and his daughter seriously ill and led to the death of local woman Dawn Sturgess.

Britain sanctioned the Russian state scientific research institute SC Signal and GNIII VM, the State Scientific Research and Testing Institute for Military Medicine, along with several senior officials and scientists. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, "Russia's repeated use of chemical weapons is a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security."

Also on Monday, Britain's defence ministry released images of UK F-35 fighter jets intercepting a Russian Bear-F maritime patrol aircraft that it said approached a British carrier strike group in the Norwegian Sea. HMS Prince of Wales and other British vessels are in the Arctic as part of NATO operations.

The ministry said that on Thursday, "the Bear-F passed at low altitude and unnecessarily close to HMS Prince of Wales and dropped a large number of sonobuoys in close proximity to the carrier." It said the devices float and use sonar to detect submarines and other vessels. "This activity was unsafe and unprofessional. The Russian aircraft was intercepted and escorted by two UK F-35 jets from HMS Prince of Wales until it left the area," the defence ministry said.

The sanctions and the defence ministry's statement marked Britain's latest criticism of Russia over the use of chemical weapons and military activity near UK vessels in the Arctic.

With PTI Inputs

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