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.
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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.
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