EU adds six Russians to chemical weapons sanctions list over Navalny case

BRUSSELS, July 3, 2026 — The European Union imposed sanctions on six Russian nationals under its chemical weapons regime, tying them to research on epibatidine, the toxin the bloc said was found in samples taken from Alexei Navalny after his death. The move was published Friday in the EU’s Official Journal and took effect immediately upon publication.

The measure, Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1541, amends the EU chemical weapons sanctions framework created in 2018. The regulation says poisoning with epibatidine was “highly likely” to have caused Navalny’s death and cites the confirmed presence of the substance in postmortem samples.

Those listed are Igor Yuryevich Babkin, Sergey Yevgenyevich Galan, Irina Dmitriyevna Derevyagina, Mikhail Vasilyevich Gutsalyuk, Olga Petrovna Yudina and Aleksey Vadimovich Aksyonov. The EU said all six were involved in research, synthesis or related work on epibatidine, and several were linked to Russia’s Signal Scientific Centre, or SC Signal.

The designations add to a broader EU response unveiled on June 15, when the bloc said it was sanctioning one entity and 15 individuals over Navalny’s persecution, poisoning and death, alongside other Russia-related measures. The Council said at the time that those listings included judges, prosecutors, security officials and medical personnel.

The new action uses the EU’s chemical weapons sanctions regime rather than its human rights framework, sharpening the bloc’s formal assertion that Navalny’s death was linked to a prohibited toxic substance. An earlier June 15 EU regulation cited a Feb. 14, 2026, joint statement by Britain, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands saying they were confident Navalny had been poisoned with epibatidine in February 2024.

Under EU asset-freeze sanctions, listed individuals are typically subject to an asset freeze and a ban on making funds or economic resources available to them, directly or indirectly.