5 European nations say Alexei Navalny was poisoned and blame the Kremlin

"LONDON Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a lethal toxin derived from the skin of poison dart frogs, five European countries said Saturday. The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analysis of samples from Navalny, who died two years ago, "have conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine." It is a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America that is not found naturally in Russia, they said."

"The countries said in a joint statement that "Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison." They said they were reporting Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said "Russia saw Navalny as a threat. By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition.""

"Navalnaya said Saturday that she had been "certain from the first day" that her husband had been poisoned, "but now there is proof." "Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon," she wrote on social network X, calling Putin "a murderer" who "must be held accountable." Russian authorities said that the politician became ill after a walk and died from natural causes."

Five European foreign ministries (U.K., France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands) reported epibatidine in samples from Alexei Navalny, who died in February 2024. Epibatidine is a toxin from South American poison dart frogs and is not found naturally in Russia. The countries said Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer the poison and referred the case to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the poisoning as evidence of the Russian state's fear of political opposition. Navalny's widow said independent labs had previously found poisoning and accused Vladimir Putin; Russian authorities insist Navalny died of natural causes after becoming ill following a walk. Navalny was serving a 19-year sentence he considered politically motivated.

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