European nations’ big accusation against Russian govt, says Opposition leader Alexey Navalny killed by dart frog poison | World News
Many European countries have accused the Russian government of poisoning and killing opposition leader Alexey Navalny with a rare and lethal toxin derived from South American dart frogs. Russian officials denied the allegations and dismissed them as Western propaganda.
Laboratory analysis of samples taken from Navalny’s body “unequivocally confirmed the presence of epibatidine,” the foreign ministries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said in a joint statement on Saturday to coincide with the Munich Security Conference.
Epibatidine is reportedly a toxin found in poison dart frogs and is not available in Russia.
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According to ANI, Al Jazeera reported that this marked a dramatic increase in international condemnation of Moscow’s treatment of the most prominent Kremlin critic.
The governments claimed their findings left no “innocent explanation” for the chemical’s existence.
The statement stated that “England, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands are sure that Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a deadly toxin” and claimed that Moscow had “the necessary means, reason and opportunity to apply this poison.”
Russia’s response to European countries
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she would comment when the test results are made public, a step that has not yet occurred.
European countries, meanwhile, say their findings show the death was the result of intentional poisoning and not a natural consequence of ill health.
ANI reported that governments announced that they would report Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention; It was a move that could deepen diplomatic rifts and trigger official international scrutiny.
Who was Navalny?
Navalny was a harsh critic of President Vladimir Putin, who built his reputation with campaigns against corruption and authoritarian rule. He died on February 16, 2024, while serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony.
Navalny’s death shocked viewers around the world in 2024, with Russian authorities at the time insisting his death was due to natural causes, claiming he died after falling ill after a hike.
(with ANI entries)
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