Britain expands its sanctions against Russia and targets chemical weapons researchers

Development and production of toxic chemicals

The British Foreign Office said that the sanctions target two research centers and a number of officials and technical experts, noting that they played major roles in the development and production of toxic chemicals.

The measures include the Institute "SC Signal" Governmental Scientific Research Institute, in addition to an institute "GN3VM" Specializing in scientific research and testing of military medicine, along with managers and experts working in the two institutions.

The British authorities had accused Russian agents of using nerve gas. "Novichok" In the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the city of Salisbury in 2018, an incident that sparked widespread international condemnation and led to the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats from several Western countries.

Although the Skripals survived, a British woman later died after being exposed to a gas. "Novichok" Through a perfume bottle believed to have contained the toxic substance.

Chemical Substances

London also indicated that one of the chemicals developed in these centers is believed to have been behind the death of Alexei Navalny, who died inside a Russian prison in February 2024 while serving a 19-year prison sentence.

The British Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, confirmed that the repeated use of chemical weapons by Russia represents a blatant violation of international law and poses a threat. Directly for global security.

The announcement of the sanctions comes ahead of the NATO summit, the discussions of which are expected to focus on the Russian war in Ukraine, while the British Foreign Office clarified that London has so far imposed sanctions on more than 3,400 individuals and entities since the outbreak of the war.