US and EU hit Russian officials with sanctions over opposition leader's poisoning

The United States and European Union have slapped sanctions on Russian officials over the poisoning and jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The detention of Russian President Vladimir Putin's highest-profile political foe drew tens of thousands of protesters out into the streets this winter.

The EU imposed bans on travel and froze the assets in Europe of Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general; Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard; and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service.

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EU headquarters said the four were listed "over their roles in the arbitrary arrest, prosecution and sentencing of Alexei Navalny, as well as the repression of peaceful protests in connection with his unlawful treatment."

Senior Biden administration officials announced the US sanctions on Tuesday but did not immediately identify the Russian officials named in them.

The administration also announced sanctions for 14 businesses and another enterprise, most of which it said were involved in the production of biological and chemical agents.

Tuesday's sanctions would be the first of several steps by the Biden administration to "respond to a number of destabilising actions," said one of the administration officials, who briefed reporters on condition they not be identified further.

The sanctions are the first against Russia by the Biden administration, which has pledged to confront President Vladimir Putin for alleged attacks on Russian opposition figures and hacking abroad, including of US government agencies and US businesses. 

Then president Donald Trump had spoken admiringly of Putin and resisted criticism and many proposed penalties for Putin's government.

The Biden administration coordinated the action with the European Union, which is expected to announce more sanctions. Some rights groups have faulted the EU for not targeting the most important Russian officials allegedly involved.

For weeks, the Biden administration had forecast actions against Russia. 

Besides the Navalny sanctions, officials have said the administration plans to respond soon to the massive Russian hack of federal government agencies and private corporations that laid bare vulnerabilities in the cyber supply chain and exposed potentially sensitive secrets to elite Kremlin spies.

Mr Navalny, 44, was sickened last August by a Russian nerve agent, Novichok, in an attack that the United States and others linked to Mr Putin's security services. 

Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.

After months of recuperation in Germany, Mr Navalny flew home to Moscow in January and was arrested upon arrival for an alleged parole violation.

His detention sparked street protests across Russia. Police arrested thousands of demonstrators. 

In February, a court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany. The sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated.

The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that it's unlawful.

Authorities have transferred the opposition leader to a penal colony to begin serving the sentence.

The sanctions were the first used by the EU under a new system for imposing restrictions on people and organisations deemed responsible for human rights abuses.