EU SLAPS SANCTIONS VS RUSSIAN OFFICIALS HARASSING NAVALNY

The European Union has finalized sanctions on four high-ranking Russian officials for their role in the detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, diplomatic sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The relevant legal act should appear in the EU legal journal shortly, officially putting the measures in place revealed. The targets are Russian prosecutor general Igor Krasnov and the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, according to dpa sources.

Also, the head of the penitentiary service, Alexander Kalashnikov, and the director of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, are also targeted, the sources added.

The targeted individuals face EU entry bans and asset freezes under the bloc's new human rights sanctions tool, set up late last year.

Moscow has repeatedly threatened to retaliate should the EU go ahead with the measures it says are illegitimate and provocative.

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