Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and four European allies say | Alexei Navalny
A multi-intelligence agency investigation found that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed with dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, according to a statement issued by five countries – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The United States was not one of the intelligence agencies that made this claim.
Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence. Samples taken from his funeral were taken before the funeral and sent to the laboratories of the two countries.
Describing the poisoning as barbaric, Britain said it would report Russia to the authorities. Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical WeaponsIn a blatant violation by Russia of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Intelligence agencies claimed that in laboratory tests, the deadly toxin (epibatidine) from the skin of Ecuadorian dart frogs was found in samples taken from Navalny’s body, most likely resulting in his death.
The statement states: “Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to use this deadly toxin to target Navalny while he was detained in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and we hold it responsible for his death.”
“Epibatidine can be found naturally in arrow frogs in the wild in South America. Arrow frogs in captivity do not produce this toxin and it is not found naturally in Russia. There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body.”
Although it is widely accepted that Navalny was poisoned by the Russian state, evidence of the presence of a specific poison in his body is a new development. His wife, Yulia Navalny, reported that there was evidence of poison in his body during the autopsy in September.
Yulia wrote in a post on X that the said poison “caused paralysis, respiratory arrest, and a painful death.” From the first day I was sure that my husband was poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with a gun [a] chemical weapon. I am grateful to the European states for the meticulous work they have carried out for two years and for revealing the facts. Vladimir Putin is a murderer. He must be held accountable for all the crimes he committed.”
The Kremlin has a long history of using poison as a weapon against its enemies. The death of Alexander Litvinenko from radioactive polonium in London in 2006, the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018 and an earlier poisoning attempt on Navalny have strengthened Russia’s reputation for using toxins to silence critics and defectors.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which oversees intelligence agencies, said the truth about Navalny’s death was being investigated with partners from Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany. Britain added: “We know that the Russian state is now using this lethal poison to target Navalny because it fears his opposition.”
The release of the information during the Munich Security Conference was designed to remind everyone that Russia announced the news of Navalny’s death exactly as the conference was convened two years ago.
After some hesitation, his wife made a short speech at the conference in 2024 and said: “Putin and all his staff, everyone around him, his government, his friends, I want them to know that they will be punished for what they did to our country. They will be brought to justice together with my family and my wife. And this day will come very soon.”
British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Only the Russian government had the means, the incentive and the opportunity to use this lethal poison against Alexei Navalny during his detention in Russia.
“Today, Britain stands with his widow, shedding light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plan to silence her voice.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat. By using this type of poison, the Russian state showed the vile tools at its disposal and its great fear of the political opposition.”
The UK has led the effort to expose Russia’s vile repression of regime opponents using poison, including the attempt to kill British agent Sergei Skripal with a novichok on the streets of Salisbury in 2018. The UK has also led allegations that Russian troops frequently used chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
In its statement, Britain said it was clear that Russia had not destroyed all its chemical weapons as claimed in 2017 and had not given up biological weapons as it was obliged to do under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
