U.S. imposes more than 500 new Russia sanctions after Navalny death

The United States will impose more than 500 new sanctions on Russian companies and individuals, according to a Treasury Department spokeswoman. The sanctions aim to hit Russian banks and suppliers that supply Russian industrial and munitions production.

The West’s sanctions on Russia, though billed as among the toughest ever, have thus far failed to deter Putin from carrying out the war in Ukraine, and the announcement of new measures may raise questions about why the United States had not previously targeted these firms. Despite the predictions of some analysts, Russia’s economy grew by more than 3 percent last year — faster than the United States — as Moscow spent extensively to support the war effort.

Navalny died last week in a remote Arctic prison colony, and his family and many supporters believe the opposition leader was murdered. President Biden met with his widow and daughter, Yulia and Daria Navalnaya, in San Francisco on Thursday and has said he believes Putin is responsible for the death.

“If Putin does not pay the price for his death and destruction, he will keep going. And the costs to the United States — along with our NATO Allies and partners in Europe and around the world — will rise,” Biden said in a statement. “These sanctions will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents. They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”

The attempt to tighten financial penalties comes at a perilous moment for Ukraine and its allies, with Republicans in Congress blocking Biden’s proposed foreign aid package amid opposition from former president Donald Trump. Kyiv and its Western allies have grown alarmed by the prospect that military and economic support from the United States could fall through entirely.