On the second anniversary of the Ukraine war, the United States has imposed additional sanctions on Russia. Those who have made it to the unenviable list include 500 individuals and entities in Russia and elsewhere. The US State department clearly listed three reasons which warranted punitive action. The first is what it called two years of ‘unprovoked full-scale war’, the second relates to the death of anti-corruption activist and a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny. The third reason was broad-based: a ‘decade of aggression against Ukraine’.
“There is a clear link between Russia’s authoritarianism, its domestic crackdown on dissent and its aggression abroad. Today, we are imposing additional costs on Russia for both its internal repression and foreign aggression,” the US State department said.
Three people have been sanctioned for the death of Navalny in the Arctic prison (Russian Penal Colony IK-3) where he was serving an extended 19 year jail term. They include:
- Valeriy Gennadevich Boyarinev
- Igor Borisovich Rakitin, and
- Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin
Boyarinev is the Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. His range of operations covers the jail where Navalny was housed. He reportedly instructed jail staff to exert harsher treatment on Navalny while he was in detention And after Navalny’s death he was promoted to the rank of Colonel General By Vladimir Putin, according to the State Department.
Rakitin is the overall head of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, under whose jurisdiction the prison that housed Navalny falls. And Kalinin is the warden of the prison.
Sanctions were also imposed on over 250 entities, mostly involving those who have evaded or circumvented earlier sanctions and those involved in sectors related to Russian energy and mining.
On the list are entities engaged in the Arctic LNG 2 project, several shipping companies and those involved in other future energy projects.
The move came hours after President Joe Biden met Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya and their daughter Dasha Navalnaya to condole their devastating loss. Aleksei’s legacy will live on, Biden said.
Alexei Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya has alleged that she was pressured by Russian authorities to hold a secret burial for her son, without any mourners.
