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UK hits Russian officials at Alexey Navalny's penal colony with sanctions

The British Foreign Office underscored in its statement that the UK is the first state to introduce sanctions against Russia over Navalny’s death

LONDON, February 21. /TASS/. The UK has imposed restrictive measures against six top Russian prison officials working in the penal colony where Alexey Navalny died, according to the updated sanctions list, published on the British government website.

The restrictions have been imposed against colony manager Vadim Kalinin and his deputies Sergey Korzhov, Vladimir Pilipchik, Vasiliy Vydrin, Alexander Obraztsov and Alexander Golyakov. The restrictive measures include an entry ban and freezing their assets, should they be discovered.

The British Foreign Office underscored in its statement that the UK is the first state to introduce sanctions against Russia over Navalny’s death. The Foreign Office also called on the Russian authorities to hand over Navalny’s body to his relatives. According to the statement, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will "condemn the Russian aggression" during the G20 ministerial meeting in Brazil on Wednesday, which will also be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

On February 16, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service announced that Alexey Navalny died in the penal colony where he was being held. According to the agency, he felt sick after a walk and subsequently lost consciousness. Medical staff immediately tended to the convict; resuscitation efforts lasted for over 30 minutes. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow views Western statements regarding Navalny’s death to be unacceptable, considering that there has been no information about the cause of the incident so far.