Russia’s Alexey Navalny died from dart frog toxin epibatidine, Europe claims

Five European countries, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and Netherlands — said Russia poisoned and killed opposition leader Alexey Navalny in 2024, based on lab tests from his body samples, as reported by Al Jazeera. These countries said tissue samples clearly showed a deadly poison called epibatidine. Epibatidine is a toxic chemical found in wild dart frogs from South America.

The five governments said they are confident Navalny was poisoned with this lethal toxin. The UK government said Russia had the means, motive and chance to give this poison. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said she will comment only after official test results are made public. The five countries said they are reporting Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for breaking the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Navalny death details

There was no immediate response from the chemical weapons watchdog group. Navalny died on February 16, 2024, in an Arctic prison while serving a 19-year sentence, as per Al Jazeera. He always said his prison sentence was politically motivated. Navalny was known for fighting corruption and leading protests against President Vladimir Putin. Scientists believe the poison may have been made in a lab even though it exists in nature.


The poison can cause breathing problems, seizures, slow heart rate and can kill quickly. The five countries said Russia must be held responsible for repeated violations of chemical weapons rules. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper met Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya at the Munich Security Conference. Cooper said the new findings expose a “barbaric plot” by the Kremlin to silence Navalny. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the case shows Putin is ready to use biological weapons to stay in power.

Russia denies claims

The Russian government has repeatedly denied any role in Navalny’s death. Russian authorities said Navalny felt sick after a walk and died of natural causes. Zakharova said without official test data, the claims are just leaks to distract from Western problems, as cited by Al Jazeera. It is still unclear how Navalny’s body samples were collected and tested. Cooper said UK scientists worked with European partners to find the truth.

Navalnaya cites the lab results to make her husband’s death a “science-proven” killing, and says that the ‘murder’ has a scientific back- up now. Navalny had survived previous alleged attempts on his life as well, including a nerve agent poisoning in 2020, which he blamed on the Kremlin. After treatment in Germany, he returned to Russia and was immediately arrested. He spent the remaining three years of his life in prison.

Russia has been previously accused of poisoning its own citizens, especially spies and dissidents. The UK also investigated the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal in 2018, as noted by Al Jazeera. That investigation concluded Putin likely ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack. Russia denied involvement in the Skripal poisoning. The poisoning of former agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 was also rebuked by Russia—however a subsequent British inquiry found two Russian agents killed Litvinenko using radioactive polonium-210.

FAQs

Q1. Who said Alexey Navalny was poisoned?

Five European countries said Alexey Navalny was poisoned after lab tests found a deadly toxin in his body.

Q2. What poison was found in Navalny’s case?

Officials said tests showed epibatidine, a very dangerous toxin that can stop breathing and heart function.