Biden administration takes 1st major action against Russia over Navalny case

(Image credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced sanctions against seven senior Russian officials and added 14 parties to the entities list in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who was recently transferred to a penal colony east of Moscow that's known for abusive treatment of inmates.

While perhaps symbolic, the sanctions represent President Biden's first major action against Russia, and they're the first real response by the United States in relation to Navalny since the Trump administration never followed through on the matter.

The European Union joined the U.S., sanctioning four Russian officials, though Brussels had already imposed penalties on six individuals, including the director of the FSB (the spy agency allegedly behind Navalny's poisoning last summer), in October.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The Biden White House has also suggested it will impose sanctions, among other measures, against Russia in response to a massive cyberattack against several federal agencies last year, but Tuesday's actions are related specifically to Navalny.

Explore More

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.