1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Russia: Poisoning of Alexei Navalny and U.S. Policy Updated March 4, 2021 On March 2, 2021, the Biden Administration said Russian government agents were responsible for an August 2020 nerve agent attack on anti-corruption
2、activist Alexei Navalny. The Department of State called the attack an “attempted assassination” and determined Russia had used a chemical weapon in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The White House stated the intelligence community (IC) “assesses with high confidence that officers of Rus
3、sias Federal Security Service,” or FSB, were responsible for the attack. The Administration announced sanctions in response, as well as for Navalnys subsequent arrest and imprisonment. Navalny Poisoning and Opposition Crackdown Russian authorities appear to have launched a campaign last year to sile
4、nce Navalny, a one-time Moscow mayoral candidate. Navalny has demonstrated acumen in exposing government corruption and organizing anti-government actions, despite being barred from competing in elections since 2013. In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned and fell ill on a flight to Moscow. After publ