The Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on six Russian scientists and researchers whom the EU links to the development of chemical weapons, including epibatidine.
The Council said epibatidine was detected in samples taken from Alexei Navalny’s body after his death in a Russian prison colony.
According to the Council’s wording, this made it possible to conclude that epibatidine poisoning was highly likely to have caused the Russian opposition politician’s death.
Those sanctioned include employees of Russian military and chemical research institutions who, according to the EU, were involved in the synthesis, study, or development of epibatidine and other toxic substances.
The measures include asset freezes in the European Union and travel bans.
The assessment of Navalny’s probable cause of death is an official conclusion of the European Union, not a fact established by a court.