The United Kingdom imposed fresh sanctions on July 6, 2026, targeting seven Russian scientists and two state research institutes accused of developing chemical weapons used in the 2018 Salisbury Novichok attack and the 2024 poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
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The measures, announced by the UK Foreign Office, hit SC Signal, a leading state scientific research institute, and GNIII VM, the State Scientific Research and Testing Institute for Military Medicine, along with directors and technical specialists involved in the production of toxic chemicals. The 2018 Salisbury incident saw the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, seriously harming former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter while killing British woman Dawn Sturgess. Navalny was poisoned with a chemical agent in Siberia in 2024 and died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described Russia’s repeated use of chemical weapons as “a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security.” The UK Foreign Ministry stated that the new sanctions “directly hit two leading scientific research centres and key individuals involved in the development and production of toxic chemicals.” The UK has now sanctioned more than 3,400 individuals and organisations in response to Russia’s actions.
In related UK-Russia developments, UK F-35 jets intercepted a Russian Bear-F plane near HMS Prince of Wales in the Norwegian Sea.
These sanctions underscore ongoing international efforts to hold Russia accountable for chemical weapons use and reinforce global norms against such prohibited activities.
AFP reports: Britain on Monday unveiled sanctions against seven Russian scientists and two research labs said to have helped develop chemical weapons used in two attacks.
The sanctions target those involved in developing the Novichok nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy hiding in England and a chemical believed to have fatally poisoned Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny in Siberia in 2024.
“These new measures directly hit two leading scientific research centres and key individuals involved in the development and production of toxic chemicals,” the UK foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russian agents have been accused of poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern city of Salisbury in March 2018 using the Soviet-developed nerve agent Novichok.
The Salisbury attack, the first offensive use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War II, caused an international outcry and prompted a mass expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western nations.
The Skripals survived, but a British woman died later after her partner picked up a discarded perfume bottle believed to have been used to carry the Novichok.
Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who rallied hundreds of thousands to the streets in protest at the Russian leadership, was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent for years.
He died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence.
“Russia’s repeated use of chemical weapons is a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
The institutions hit were SC Signal, a Russian state scientific research institute and GNIII VM, the country’s Scientific Research and Testing Institute for Military Medicine.
The individuals who were sanctioned included directors and technical specialists at the two research institutes, according to the foreign ministry.
The announcement came ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Ankara, which opens on Tuesday and is set to focus on the Ukraine war.
The Foreign Office said Britain has now sanctioned over 3,400 individuals and organisations amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Original article: UK Sanctions Russian Scientists and Labs Behind Novichok and Navalny Chemical Attacks on Planet Today 🚀
Automatically republished from the main blog.