Putin nemesis Alexei Navalny was killed using toxin from poisonous South American frog, Keir Starmer reveals

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by the Russian state.

Navalny’s death was the result of poison from a South American dart frog toxin called epibatidine.

The politician died at the age of 47 two years ago while in a remote penal colony in the Arctic. The suspect was sentenced to decades in prison on embezzlement charges.

His death was announced by the Russian state on February 16, 2024. At the time, his allies accused the Kremlin of killing Navalny because of the political threat he posed.

The toxin epibatidine is said to be 200 times more powerful than morphine and is used by some indigenous tribes in South America in darts or air rifles during hunting. It attacks the nerves, causing numbness and paralysis.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office along with other European countries, a spokesman said: ‘The United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin.

‘This is our Governments’ conclusion based on analysis of samples taken from Alexei Navalny. These analyzes conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.

‘Epibatidine is a toxin found in South American poison dart frogs. It is not found naturally in Russia.

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, is seen after lighting a candle at St Mary’s Church in Berlin on what would have been her husband’s birthday in June 2024.

Navalny was photographed with his wife after a rally in Moscow, Russia, in September 2013.

Yulia Navalnaya attended the 2024 Munich Security Conference on the day Russia announced her husband’s death

Navalny’s death while in custody in Russia was announced on February 16, 2024.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s parents, Anatoly and Lyudmila, along with Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya’s mother, Alla Abrosimova, arrived at Navalny’s grave to commemorate the first anniversary of his death at a Moscow cemetery in February 2025.

Navalny participated in the march on Strastnoy Boulevard in memory of Russian politician and opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in 2019

‘Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. However, given the toxicity of epibatidine and the reported symptoms, the cause of death appeared to be most likely poisoning. Navalny died while in prison, which means Russia has the means, justification and opportunity to inflict this poison on him.

‘It is clear that Russia constantly ignores international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

‘In August 2020, the UK, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and their partners condemned Russia’s use of novichok to poison Alexei Navalny.

‘This led to the tragic death of Dawn Sturgess, a British woman, after Russia used novichok in Salisbury in 2018.

‘In both cases, only the Russian state had the means, motives and disregard for international law to carry out the attacks.

‘These latest findings underline once again that Russia must be held accountable for its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and in this case the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

‘Our Permanent Representatives to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons wrote to the Director-General today to inform him of Russia’s violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

‘We are also concerned that Russia has not destroyed all its chemical weapons.

‘We and our partners will use all policy tools at our disposal to continue to hold Russia accountable.’

This is breaking news and is being updated.