Lithuanian ForMin welcomes sanctions for Russian officials over Navalny's imprisonment

VILNIUS – Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday welcomed the European Union's decision to impose sanctions for several Russian officials linked to the imprisonment of opposition activist Alexei Navalny.

"The restrictive measures are imposed under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the so-called EU Magnitsky Act, endorsed on December 7, 2020 in response to consistent and gross violations of human rights in Russia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

EU sanctions for Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Igor Krasnov, the Prosecutor-General, Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard, and Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Federal Prison Service, came into force on Tuesday.

The EU Council's decision and executive regulation were on Tuesday published in Official Journal of the European Union.

The restrictive measures consist of an EU travel ban and asset freeze.

Earlier this week, EU member states approved sanctions for four high-ranking Russian justice and law enforcement officials linked to Navalny's imprisonment.