The Council of the European Union on 3 July 2026 imposed restrictive measures on six Russian individuals involved in the development of chemical weapons, specifically the toxin epibatidine, which was found in samples from Alexei Navalny's body after his death in a Russian penal colony. The EU concluded that poisoning with epibatidine was highly likely the cause of his death. Those listed include scientists and researchers from the Signal Scientific Centre (SC Signal) and Russia's State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT), among them Igor Babkin, head of SC Signal's laboratory, Irina Derevyagina, a chemical research analyst at GosNIIOKhT, and Mikhail Gutsalyuk, head of a department at the Military Academy of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence. The sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, bring the total number of individuals listed under the EU's chemical weapons sanctions regime to 31, along with 6 entities. The legal acts were published in the Official Journal of the EU. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to countering the proliferation and use of chemical weapons, in line with the Chemical Weapons Convention. The sanctions framework was originally established on 15 October 2018, following the European Council's condemnation of chemical weapons use on 22 March 2018. The current restrictive measures are in force until 16 October 2026, with the possibility of renewal and amendment.
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