Sanctions on inner circle of Vladimir Putin after poisoning case of the opposition

 The European Union has slapped the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin within sanctions after the poisoning case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The imposition of these sanctions was on six of the Russian officials along with one organization and the move was only formalized on Thursday after Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Moscow might respond with similar measures.

The statement released by the European Union said, “The adopted restrictive measures consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for individuals, and an asset freeze for the entity.”

The sanctions include two high-level officials from the Presidential office,  a director of the federal security service, and two deputy ministers in the Russian defense ministry affirmed the statement given by the EU. Earlier this week, the EU got a push from two of the major European countries--Germany and France which led to the union’s decision. The two countries have also suggested freezing assets of those involved in the matter and ban their travel across the European nations to prohibit their usage of chemical weapons.

It all started when one of the major opposition leaders, Alexei Navalny, who is also an anti-corruption investigator, fell ill on August 20 in a domestic flight within Russia. He then flew to Germany to receive treatment and still has not fully recovered.

Tests were done to know the cause of the positioning and one of the laboratories designated by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed that it was nerve poisoning and the agent used was Novichok nerve agent.

While the Russian foreign minister said that the Germans are not providing any information on the matter. “The Germans are not planning to provide any facts, despite all international and legal obligations.” The minister was especially targeting the president of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen’s recent statements which indicate a ruling out a partnership with Russia to which Lavrov said that Moscow is ready to do it that is what the EU wants.