We will impose counter-sanctions on UK, says Russia

Moscow will impose counter-sanctions against Britain, the Kremlin said Tuesday, after London this week announced a new human rights sanctions regime targeting Russian officials.

“We can only regret such unfriendly measures,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that “obviously the principle of reciprocity will be applied.”

The 25 Russians included on the sanctions list drawn up by the UK Foreign Office were included for their alleged involvement in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Magnitsky, a tax consultant for British financier William Browder, died in prison of untreated illness in 2009 after accusing Russian officials of tax fraud of $230 million.

Russian officials to be targeted by the sanctions include Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the powerful Investigative Committee that reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Embassy in London on Monday denounced the sanctions saying that the country’s legal system was “independent” of the authorities and “guided by law alone”.

London has accused Russia of “destabilising” activities including the 2018 chemical attack that almost killed former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Russia has rejected accusations that officers from its GRU military intelligence agency used a powerful nerve agent to poison Skripal in retribution for his work with British and other Western spy services.