Russia on Wednesday (December 30) widened its sanctions targeting British officials, in response to similar measures adopted in October against Moscow by London amid the alleged poisoning of the main Russian opponent, Alexei Navalny.
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"
Russia, based on the principle of reciprocity, has taken the decision to increase the number of British citizens who are refused entry into our country,
" the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without specifying the identity or number of officials involved.
According to Moscow, the British in question are "
those involved in the escalation of anti-Russian sanctions
."
British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert was summoned to the Foreign Office on Wednesday to be served with this decision, the statement said.
The United Kingdom sanctioned seven Russian officials in October, including the head of the security services (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov and the businessman Yevgeny Prigojin, known to be close to President Vladimir Putin, for their alleged role in the poisoning of the opponent Alexeï Navalny as well as in the conflict in Libya.
Navalny fell seriously ill on August 20 on a plane in Siberia and is currently in Germany.
According to several Western laboratories, the opponent was poisoned with a Novichok-type nerve agent, a substance designed by Soviet specialists for military purposes.
This conclusion was confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and an investigation by several media pointed to the responsibility of the FSB in this poisoning.
The Russian authorities for their part deny any responsibility and question the thesis of poisoning.
Moscow on Wednesday denounced the sanctions adopted in October as "
unconstructive and unfriendly acts
" on the part of London, and again as "
unacceptable and unreasonable restrictive measures targeting Russian citizens
".
Russia had already broadened its sanctions against German officials on Tuesday, in retaliation for similar measures taken in October by the European Union, which accuses Moscow of being at the origin of the hacking of the Bundestag in 2015.