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Updated August 26, 2021
Russia: The Navalny Poisoning, Chemical Weapons Use, and
U.S. Sanctions
On March 2, 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
determined that in August 2020 the Russian government
used a chemical weapon in an attackon opposition figure
and anticorruption activist AlexeiNavalny in violation of
internationallaw and ag ainst one of its own nationals. This
finding triggered requirements under the Chemical and
BiologicalW eapons Control and W arfare Elimination Act
of 1991 (CBW Act; title III, P.L. 102-182; 22 U.S.C. 5601
et seq.).
The CBW Act requires the President to impose economic
and diplomatic measures thatcould cut off foreign aid, am
sales, and export licenses for controlled goods, services,
and technology, andratchetup in intensity if certain
conditions are not met within 90 days.
The March 2021 determination is the second time the
United States has determined thatRussia has used a
chemical weapon and imposed sanctions under the CBW
Act. The Trump Administration leveled two rounds of
CBW Act s anctions in August 2018 and August 2019 in
response to a March 2018 attack ag ainst British citizen
Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom
using an advanced nerve agent known as a Novichok. The
United States also imposes sanctions against Russia for
otherreasons. Formore, see CRS In Focus 11F10962,
Russia, the SkripalPoisoning, and US. Sanctions; CRS In
Focus IF10779, U.S. Sanctions on Russia: An Overview;
and CRS Report R45415, U.S. Sanctions on Russia.
The Poisoning ofAkxei Navany
In 2020, Russian authorities appeared to intensify a
campaign to silence Navalny, a prominent oppositionfigure
and one-time Moscow mayoral candidate. Navalny had
been barred fromcompeting in elections since 2013, after
receiving a suspended sentence on what observers widely
considered to be trumped up charges of embezzlement.
Nevertheless, Navalny andhis Anti-Corruption Foundation
remained active in exposing government corruption and
organizing antigovernment actions.
In August 2020, Navalny fell ill on a flight to Moscow.
Afterpublic outcry, authorities allowed himto be evacuated
to Germany for medical care. German officials later cited
unequivocal evidence Navalny hadbeenpoisoned with a
Novichok nerve agent, a chemical weapon developed by the
Soviet Union and presumably accessible only to Russian
state authorities. Other official internationalinvestigations
reached similar conclusions.
In early 2021, on his return to Russia fromGermany,
Navalny was arrested, ostensibly forhaving mis sedparole
check-ins relatedto his suspendedsentence,including
during his hospitalization abroad. Navalny was sentenced to
serve 32 months ofhis suspended sentence and transferred
to a penal colony. In June 2021, authorities ordered the
closure ofNavalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, calling it
an extremist organization.
On March 2, 2021, the Biden Administration determined
that Russian government agents were responsible for the
attackon Navalny. The Department of State calledthe
attack an attempted assassination, and the White House
stated that the intelligence community assessed with high
confidence thatofficers ofRussia's Federal Security
Service (FSB) were responsible for the Novichok attack.
Russian authorities deny involvement in the attack or
possession of chemical weapons.
The CBW Control and Warfare
Elimination Act
First Round of Sanctions
The finding that Russia hadused a chemicalweapon
triggered requirements forpolicy actions specified in the
CBW Act. When such a finding is made, the CBW Act first
requires the President (delegating authority to the Secretary
of State) to, forthwith,
* terminate foreign as sistance other than that which
addresses urgent humanitarian situations or provides
food, agricultural commodities, or agriculturalproducts;
* terminate arms sales;
* terminate export licenses for U.S. Munitions List
(USML) items;
* terminate foreign military financing;
* deny credit, credit guarantees, or other financial
assistance fromthe U.S. government, including Export-
Import Bank programs; and
* deny export licenses for goods or technology controlled
for national security reasons (Commodity Control List).
[CBW Act, §307(a); 22 U.S.C. 5605(a)]
The CBW Act authorizes the President to waive s anctions if
he finds it es sential to U.S. national security interests or if
he finds that theviolating government has undergone
fundamentalchanges in leadership or policies.
On March 2, 2021, Secretary Blinken announced the
imposition of a first round of sanctions, effective on March
18, but invoked national security waiver authority (as did
the Trump Administration after the 2018 Skripal attack) to
allow for the continuation of
* foreign assistance;](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govefzn0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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