Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was reportedly poisoned by the Kremlin using a deadly toxin derived from poison dart frogs, according to statements from five European countries on Saturday. The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands disclosed that tests on samples from Navalny, who passed away on February 16, 2024, confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin not indigenous to Russia but found in poison dart frogs in South America.
A joint statement from the five nations alleged that Russia had the capability, motive, and opportunity to administer this toxin. They announced their intention to report Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention. The organization has not yet responded to the report.
Navalny, a prominent critic of official corruption and a key adversary of President Vladimir Putin, died while serving a 19-year prison sentence in a penal colony in the Arctic in February 2024. He believed his sentence was politically motivated.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that Russia viewed Navalny as a threat and utilized this form of poison to exhibit its despicable tactics and fear of political opposition. French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot suggested on social media that Putin’s readiness to use biological weapons against his own citizens showed his determination to cling to power.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, previously mentioned that independent laboratories had confirmed her husband’s poisoning before his death. She has consistently accused Putin of being responsible for Navalny’s demise, a claim vehemently denied by Russian officials.
The lethal substance, epibatidine, can occur naturally in dart frogs or be produced in a laboratory, as suspected by European scientists examining its effects on Navalny. It acts similarly to nerve agents, causing breathing difficulties, convulsions, seizures, a reduced heart rate, and eventual death.
In 2020, Navalny was previously targeted with a nerve agent attack that he attributed to the Kremlin, although Russian authorities denied any involvement. Following treatment in Germany, he returned to Russia and was promptly arrested, spending the remainder of his life behind bars.
The U.K. has accused Russia of violating international bans on chemical and biological weapons, citing the 2018 Salisbury attack on former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal with the nerve agent Novichok. A British investigation concluded that the attack likely had approval from the highest levels of the Russian government, including President Putin, a claim that the Kremlin refuted.