Four Russian nationals accused of being involved in the poisoning of top Putin critic Alexei Navalny in 2020 have been sanctioned by the United States.
The US treasury department said the four sanctioned are all linked to Russia's FSB security service. Two of them are among the main reported perpetrators of the poisoning.
Mr Navalny was taken ill on an internal Russian flight in August 2020, and was admitted to hospital in Berlin in a critical condition. He was poisoned using a Novichok nerve agent, the same used in the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.
Describing the poisoning as an assassination attempt, a US treasury spokesperson said it represents "the Kremlin's contempt for human rights, and we will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to hold the Kremlin's willing would-be executioners to account".
They added: "Today we remind Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people."
Mr Navalny is currently in a penal colony on extremism charges that most international observers dismiss as politically motivated. His term was extended by a further 19 yearsearlier this month.
Russia's Washington embassy has not commented so far.
