Name

Sergei Ivanovich Menyailo

Year of birth

1960

Additional Information

Regime: Chemical Weapons

(UK Sanctions List Ref):CHW0013. (UK Statement of Reasons):Currently Head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Sergei Menyailo was until April 2021 the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District and, therefore, responsible for ensuring the implementation of the constitutional powers of the President, including the implementation by public authorities of domestic and foreign policy of the state in the federal district of Siberia. The activities and movements of Alexey Navalny during his journey to Siberia, from where he intended to return to Moscow on 20th August, were closely monitored by the authorities of the Russian Federation. The poisoning of Alexey Navalny took place at Tomsk Bogashevo airport in Siberia. Russia had the technical capability to carry out the attack. The Russian State has previously produced Novichoks and would still be capable of doing so. Within the last decade, Russia has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichok. It is unlikely that Novichoks could be made and deployed by non-state actors (e.g. a criminal or terrorist group). Russia had the operational experience to carry out the attack. Russia has a proven record of state-sponsored assassination. It is highly likely that the Russian state was responsible for the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018 using a similar type of nerve agent. During the 2000s, Russia commenced a programme to test means of delivering chemical warfare agents, including investigation of ways of delivering nerve agents. Russia had the motive and opportunity to carry out the attack. Navalny was a high profile Russian opposition politician who vocally criticised the Russian administration and establishment. He was on Russian territory under surveillance by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation at the time of the attack. Given the scale of the operation involved, it is reasonable to conclude that the poisoning was only possible with the consent of the Presidential Office. Given his senior leadership role in the Siberian Federal District, Sergei Menyailo bears responsibility for the providing support for the preparation and use of chemical weapons in the attempted assassination of Alexey Navalny in Tomsk, Siberia. (Gender):Male