Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was allegedly poisoned by the Kremlin using a deadly toxin derived from the skin of poison dart frogs, according to statements from five European nations on Saturday. The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands revealed that tests on samples from Navalny, who passed away on February 16, 2024, had definitively identified the presence of epibatidine, a toxin primarily found in poison dart frogs native to South America and not naturally occurring in Russia.
A joint statement issued by the five countries pointed out that Russia had the capability, motive, and opportunity to administer this toxin to Navalny. They announced their intention to report Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention. The organization did not immediately respond to these allegations.
Navalny, a prominent critic of official corruption and a key figure in anti-Kremlin demonstrations, died while serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony, which he believed was politically motivated. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper remarked that Russia viewed Navalny as a threat and utilized this form of poison to demonstrate its immense power and deep-seated fear of political opposition.
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot expressed on a social media platform that the poisoning of Navalny signifies Putin’s readiness to employ biological weapons against his own citizens to retain power. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, previously stated that independent laboratories had confirmed her husband was poisoned before his death, consistently holding Putin responsible for his demise, a claim vehemently denied by Russian authorities.
Yulia Navalnaya reiterated her belief in Putin’s involvement in her husband’s poisoning, emphasizing the need to hold him accountable for his actions. The Russian government had previously alleged that Navalny’s illness was due to natural causes following a walk. Epibatidine, the lethal substance detected in Navalny’s system, can occur naturally in wild dart frogs or be synthetically produced in laboratories, with European scientists suspecting the latter in Navalny’s case.
This incident follows a prior poisoning attempt on Navalny in 2020 using a nerve agent, an attack he attributed to the Kremlin, which consistently denied any involvement. After receiving treatment in Germany, Navalny returned to Russia, where he was promptly arrested and imprisoned until his passing. The U.K. has accused Russia of repeatedly violating international prohibitions on chemical and biological weapons, citing the 2018 Salisbury attack targeting former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal with the nerve agent Novichok, an assault believed to have been authorized by President Putin at the highest level, as per a British inquiry.
Despite these accusations, the Kremlin has consistently refuted any involvement in such incidents.