The European Union has sanctioned the heads of Russia's military intelligence and two of their officers blamed for poisoning a former Russian double agent in Britain last year, a decision Moscow dismissed as groundless.
The EU travel bans and asset freezes included two men Britain has named as intelligence officers, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, and accused them of "orchestrating the possession, transport and use of the nerve agent" used in Salisbury, England last March, in a failed attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
EU: Decision taken on very strong legal basis
"This decision contributes to the EU's efforts to counter the proliferation and use of chemical weapons which poses a serious threat to international security," a statement said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
"I'm confident member states took the decision on a very strong legal basis," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, stressing he felt that the measure would "resist the tests of the courts."
An undated handout picture released by the British Metropolitan Police Service shows Ruslan Boshirov (L) and Alexander Petrov walking on the street in London, September 5, 2018. /VCG Photo
An undated handout picture released by the British Metropolitan Police Service shows Ruslan Boshirov (L) and Alexander Petrov walking on the street in London, September 5, 2018. /VCG Photo
Along with the measures against the four Russian military intelligence organization (GRU) officers, EU member states also imposed asset freezes and travel bans on five Syrians linked to strongman Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons program.
The Russians targeted are the first names to be added to a new EU mechanism to punish chemical weapons attacks using banned munitions, regardless of nationality.
Russia: The claim is groundless
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the decision. “They are suspected groundlessly,” he told reporters on a conference call. “We have still not heard any evidence.”
The Russian foreign ministry reacted angrily, insisting that the claims against its personnel had been invented by Britain for its own diplomatic ends. "We reserve the right to take retaliatory measures over this unfriendly step," the ministry said in a statement.
"An information campaign unleashed by the British authorities over this case primarily has a domestic agenda. It is telling that its new round coincides with a new crisis in Brexit talks."
Skripal, 66, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who betrayed dozens of agents to Britain, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious on a bench in the city of Salisbury on March 4 last year.
(Cover: Ruslan Boshirov (L) and Alexander Petrov, who are wanted by British police in connection with the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, September 5, 2018. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): AFP
,Reuters