Five European nations, including the UK, France, and Germany, announced on Saturday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a “rare toxin” derived from a dart frog, with the Russian government being the main suspect.

Navalny, known for his outspoken criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, passed away in a Russian prison on February 16, 2024, where he was serving a 19-year sentence.

In a joint statement issued at the Munich Security Conference, the UK, Sweden, France, Germany, and The Netherlands expressed their certainty that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin.

The European countries reported that laboratory analyses of samples taken from Navalny’s body revealed the presence of a toxin called epibatidine, found in the skin of South American dart frogs.

The statement highlighted that Russia claimed Navalny died of natural causes. However, due to the extreme toxicity of epibatidine and the symptoms observed, poisoning is considered a highly probable cause of death.

The statement concluded by emphasizing that Navalny’s death occurred while he was incarcerated, suggesting that Russia had both the means and opportunity to administer the poison.

The UK’s foreign office said separately that “only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin”. It added: “We hold [Russia] responsible for his death.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Navalny’s “courage in the face of tyranny” in a social media post, slamming “Putin’s murderous intent”.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on the allegations. Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman and Moscow’s embassy in London dismissed the Western report.

Putin said in 2024 that Navalny had “passed away”. The opposition leader died shortly before a presidential election in Russia.

Navalny’s widow responds

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnya, said it was now “science-proven” that the Kremlin opponent had been murdered.

“Two years ago, I came on stage here and said that it was Vladimir Putin who killed my husband,” Navalnaya said on the sidelines of the conference in Germany.

“I was of course certain that it was a murder … but back then it was just words. But today, these words have become science-proven facts,” Navalnaya added.

Navalnaya last September said that laboratory analysis of smuggled biological samples found her husband was killed by poisoning.

“Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plot to silence his voice,” UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, who met Navalnaya while attending the Munich conference, said in a statement.

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot paid “tribute” to Navalny after the findings.

“We now know that Vladimir Putin is prepared to use biological weapons against his own people to remain in power,” Barrot said in a post on X.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said: “I am proud that together we have been able to contribute to the truth coming out and that the evidence is now available to hold Russia accountable.”

Moscow has never fully explained Navalny’s death, saying only that he fell ill and collapsed during a walk in his Arctic prison colony. Navalny and his foundation were considered “extremist” by the Russian authorities.

Russia reported to chemical weapons watchdog

The European countries said they had reported Russia to the world’s chemical weapons watchdog — the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — over the finding.

We are further concerned that Russia did not destroy all of its chemical weapons,” the countries said, accusing Moscow of breaching the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Navalny was previously poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in 2020 while campaigning in Siberia and was flown to Germany on an emergency evacuation flight, where he spent months recovering.

Jailed upon his return to Russia in January 2021, he was convicted on a series of charges, including “extremism”, but continued to campaign against Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from behind bars.

Putin’s main political opponent, Navalny was the only opposition leader who was able to galvanise big protests in Russia.

Public displays of opposition to Putin inside Russia have become exceptionally rare since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and clamped down on dissenters and critics of the war.

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