WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) The United States has imposed sanctions on seven senior Russian officials, including Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Aleksandr Bortnikov and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, over the alleged poisoning and imprisonment of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, the US Department of the Treasury announced in a statement on Tuesday.
"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) joined the US Departments of State and Commerce in imposing sanctions in response to Russia's poisoning and subsequent imprisonment of Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny," the statement said.
In addition to Bortnikov and Krasnov, OFAC also designated Presidential Policy Directorate Chief Andrei Yarin, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Kiriyenko, Deputy Minister of Defense Aleksey Krivoruchko, Deputy Minister of Defense Pavel Popov and Federal Penitentiary Service Director Alexander Kalashnikov.
As a result of the Treasury Department's actions, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals� that come within the possession of US persons are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Any foreign person who knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for or on behalf of them risks being sanctioned.
The Treasury Department explained that all seven Russian officials were designated pursuant to Executive Order 13661 that originally gave the US government the authority to block property of "persons contributing to the situation in Ukraine."
Bortnikov was additionally designated under Executive Order 13382 for "having engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the release said.
The Russian authorities deny having any role in the alleged poisoning of Navalny.
