New sanctions planned by the European Union due to the imprisonment of the well-known Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are likely to enter into force early next week..

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU countries may already on March 1 approve the launch of a written procedure for the adoption of a decision by the EU Council on the imposition of sanctions, and on March 2, the agreed measures will be published in the official journal of the European Union and will come into force as a result, DW reports..

Apparently, the sanctions will cover the Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov, the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov and the head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov. For the introduction of penalties, for the first time, a new sanctions mechanism, adopted at the end of last year, will be used, allowing the European Union to impose visa bans and freeze the property of individuals guilty of gross violations of human rights or who benefit from it.