State, OFAC Impose New Import Restrictions, Sanctions Designations on Russia for Navalny Poisoning

The State Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control recently announced a series of sanctions against Russia, including import restrictions on firearms and the designation of entities and individuals connected the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Aleksey Navalny. Coming on the one-year anniversary of Navalny’s poisoning with Novichok nerve agent, the new sanctions are being carried out “in concert” with the United Kingdom, State said.

The sanctions include new restrictions on the permanent importation of firearms or ammunition manufactured or located in Russia. New and pending permit applications for such activities will be subject to a policy of denial. The Commerce Department will also impose additional export controls on nuclear and missile-related goods and technology, according to a State Department fact sheet.

Imposed under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, these new restrictions will take effect upon publication of a Federal Register notice, expected on Sept. 7, and will remain in effect for a minimum of a year. After that period, they may only be lifted if the executive branch “determines and certifies to Congress that Russia has met several conditions described in the CBW Act,” including international inspections and restitution to Navalny, the fact sheet said.

The import restrictions on firearms and ammunition “that are the growth, product, or manufacture” of Russia will be implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, OFAC said in a frequently asked question issued alongside the announcement. “OFAC has concurred with the Deputy Secretary of State’s determination pursuant to the CBW Act regarding the imposition of import restrictions, and with ATF’s implementation of the restrictions according to State Department guidance,” it said.

State also re-designated two scientific institutes under the Russian Ministry of Defense: The 27th Scientific Center and the 33rd Scientific Research and Testing Institute. Both had originally been designated in 2005 as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.

Also on Aug. 20, OFAC announced a series of new sanctions designations related to the Navalny poisoning. In all, the two agencies designated nine individuals and four entities, “including operatives involved in poisoning Mr. Navalny and entities that have developed Russia’s chemical weapons capabilities,” State said.

OFAC designated the Russian Federal Security Service’s Criminalistics Institute and several officials and operatives employed by the institute, including perpetrators in the attack on Navalny. “This is the third use of Treasury’s discretionary authorities to respond to Russia’s use of Novichok against its own citizens,” OFAC said.

“Today, on the one-year anniversary of Aleksey Navalny’s poisoning by Russian government agents, we stand with our ally, the United Kingdom, to again condemn the Kremlin’s use of a chemical weapon to target one of Russia’s most prominent opposition leaders,” OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said. “Navalny’s poisoning was a shocking violation of international norms against the use of chemical weapons and was part of an ongoing campaign to silence voices of dissent in Russia.”