The US Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that its Bureau of Industry and Security will be expanding the export restrictions imposed on Russia earlier this month as part of the sanctions over the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia Skripal.

In March 2018, Russia allegedly deployed a Novichok nerve agent in an attack against Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in the UK. Last August, it allegedly used the nerve agent to poison prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Russian government has denied any role in the two cases but drew criticism from the international community for poisoning its own citizens and violating international law obligations. Pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991, the US imposed sanctions against Russia in August 2018 and 2019 for the Skripal attack but not in October 2020 for the Navalny attack.

The US Department elaborated the purpose of the current sanctions saying, “By deploying illegal nerve agents against dissidents, both inside and outside its borders, the Russian government has acted in flagrant violation of its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention and has directly put its own citizens and those of other countries at mortal risk.”

This measure expands the scope of items restricted for sale to Russia for reasons of national security and form part of the Biden administration’s first sanctions against the country for its treatment of Navalny. Although the statement does not specify the categories of goods included under the measure, they mostly related to technology and software as the US Department is “committed to preventing Russia from accessing sensitive U.S. technologies that might be diverted to its malign chemical weapons activities.” The Bureau of Industry and Security will be reviewing license applications under a presumption of denial for exports to Russia of items restricted for national security reasons.

A partial waiver is permitted for select items under such as those necessary for the safety of flight of civil passenger aviation, deemed exports and reexports to Russian nationals, items destined for wholly-owned US subsidiaries and other foreign subsidiaries of US companies located in Russia, and items in support of government space cooperation.

The new measures came into effect Thursday. On the same day, Russia recalled its ambassador to the US for consultations, although it has not given any specific reason for this action.