The EU imposed sanctions against the leadership of the GRU due to the incident in Salisbury

The Council of the European Union imposed sanctions against the head of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff, the council said in a press release.

“Today the Council imposed sanctions against nine individuals and one entity under the new restrictive measures mechanism established on 15 October 2018 for the use and build-up of chemical weapons,” the EU said in a release.

The EU later published a list of people against whom sanctions were imposed. It lists Igor Kostyukov as the head of the GRU, and Vladimir Alekseev as his deputy. The sanctions list also includes Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga. According to Bellingcat and Insider, these are the real names of people whom the UK considers involved in the Salisbury incident.

They are, according to the EU, "responsible for the storage, transport and use of the nerve agent in Salisbury."

After the death of the head of the GRU, Igor Korobov, his successor has not yet been officially appointed. However, a TASS source in the department said that the leadership position is now occupied by Vice Admiral Igor Kostyukov.

In March 2018, former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury. In the case of poisoning, according to Great Britain, a nerve agent of the Novichok class, developed in the USSR, was used.

British authorities suspected two GRU officers, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, of the poisoning. They noted that these may not be their real names. Bellingcat and Insider claim that Boshirov is GRU Colonel Anatoly Chepiga, and Petrov is military doctor Alexander Mishkin.

The UK showed videos and photographs of the suspects. These people later gave an interview to RT. They introduced themselves as Petrov and Boshirov and denied their involvement in the intelligence services, insisting that they went to Salisbury as tourists.

Updated at 4:19 p.m. The names of people against whom sanctions were imposed have been added.