The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK, included in the register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent), appealed to US President Joe Biden with a request to impose sanctions on at least eight Russians from the circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was announced on January 30 by the American television channel CNN.
The letter to the American leader arrived last Friday, it contains a more extended list and names of 35 Russians, eight of whom are in the so-called “priority”. The list itself is divided into three groups, with seven of them already falling under US sanctions.
The letter was signed by FBK Executive Director Vladimir Ashurkov. According to him, the fund calls on Washington to put pressure on the Russian authorities in order to release blogger Alexei Navalny.
“We didn’t want to make this list public until we had completed a full dossier on them. But after arresting him [Навального] we knew we had to act, ”Ashurkov told American journalists.
According to him, Navalny’s team plans to submit the same request to the European Union and the UK government.
Navalny was detained at Sheremetyevo airport on January 17 upon his return from Berlin. The procedure was carried out by the officers of the search department of the FPS. As explained in the department, the detainee was on the wanted list for multiple violations of the probationary period and the conditions of his conditional release from December 29, 2020. At the same time, the blogger was repeatedly warned that these violations could lead to the cancellation of the conditional release.
The Federal Penitentiary Service took into account the fact that since August 22 last year, the Russian, according to published data, has been treated at the Berlin clinic “Charite”. As indicated in the clinic, the blogger was discharged on September 23. However, Navalny did not show up for registration, according to which he was put on the wanted list.
Only in November did Navalny send a notification to the Federal Penitentiary Service that he was living in Berlin. The blogger did not provide official confirmation that he is restoring health.
He announced his decision to return to Russia on January 13. At the same time, the FSIN warned that it plans to detain him, since the court must decide on replacing his suspended sentence with a real one.
Navalny was brought to Berlin airport in a motorcade with flashing lights. He was taken not to the terminal, but immediately to the airfield. At the same time, Navalny did not even personally receive boarding passes; employees of the special services of Germany went through the procedure for him. On January 18, a court in Khimki near Moscow arrested the blogger for 30 days.