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UK sanctions Russian scientists over Novichok nerve agent
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

UK sanctions Russian scientists over Novichok nerve agent

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The UK sanctioned seven individuals and two research institutes for their alleged involvement in developing the nerve agent Novichok and the toxin Epibatidine.
  • These substances were linked to the accidental death of Dawn Sturgess in Salisbury in 2018 and the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
  • The sanctions were announced ahead of a NATO summit, with the UK emphasizing Russia's violation of international law and threat to global security.

The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on seven Russian scientists and officials, along with two research institutes, accusing them of involvement in the development of the nerve agent Novichok and the toxin Epibatidine. The Foreign Ministry stated that the nerve agent was used in the 2018 Salisbury attack that accidentally killed Briton Dawn Sturgess, while the toxin was used against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose death in an Arctic prison colony in 2024 London attributes to Moscow.

The measures target Russian officials responsible for an "illegal" and "undeclared" chemical weapons program, deemed to have participated in the development and production of prohibited toxic substances. Among those sanctioned are Artur Zhirov, Andrei Antokhin, Sergei Chepur, Vladimir Kondratyev, Aleksandr Makhlay, Ivan Kravstov, and Viktor Taranchenko, as well as the state institutes SC Signal and the State Scientific Research Institute of Military Medicine (GNIII VM).

Russia's repeated use of chemical weapons constitutes a repugnant violation of international law and a direct threat to global security.

— Yvette CooperBritish Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated the reason for the sanctions.

This announcement comes just before a NATO summit in Ankara, where the UK plans to coordinate further security measures against Russia with its allies and reiterate military support for Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper declared that "Russia's repeated use of chemical weapons constitutes a repugnant violation of international law and a direct threat to global security." She added, "From the use of the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury to Epibatidine in Siberia, which poisoned Dawn Sturgess and Alexei Navalny, Russia continues to employ barbaric tools to inflict death and suffering on innocent civilians, including in Ukraine."

From the use of the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury to Epibatidine in Siberia, which poisoned Dawn Sturgess and Alexei Navalny, Russia continues to employ barbaric tools to inflict death and suffering on innocent civilians, including in Ukraine.

— Yvette CooperBritish Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper detailed the alleged Russian actions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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