Biden announces more than 500 sanctions on Russia after Navalny’s death

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday announced more than 500 new sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine and the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last week in prison.

Biden said the sanctions would target those connected to Navalny’s imprisonment, as well as Russia’s financial sector, defense industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across several continents.

“They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home,” Biden said in a statement about the sanctions. He noted the action is timed with the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. is also imposing export restrictions on almost 100 entities that support Russia’s military efforts and taking action to reduce Russia’s energy revenues, Biden said.

“I’ve directed my team to strengthen support for civil society, independent media, and those who fight for democracy around the world,” he added.

Biden emphasized the need for Congress to pass the Senate foreign aid package, saying Ukraine is “running out of ammunition.” Ukraine needs more supplies from the U.S. to “hold the line against Russia’s relentless attacks,” which are enabled by ammunition and arms from Iran and North Korea, the president said.

“That’s why the House of Representatives must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental bill, before it’s too late,” Biden said.

The sanctions package, which the president previewed Tuesday, was announced exactly a week after Russia’s prison service said Navalny, 47, died in a Russian penal colony above the Arctic Circle. He was serving a combined prison sentence of more than 30 years on charges of extremism and fraud, which he denied.

On Thursday, Biden met with Navalny‘s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and their daughter, Dasha, in California.

Meanwhile, Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said in a video statement Thursday that she was allowed access to her son’s body in a morgue, but her lawyer had not been able to come with her. She alleged Russian authorities were “blackmailing” her with the threat that if she didn’t agree to a secret funeral, they would “do something with the body.”