UK claims Navalny poisoned with deadly frog toxin, as allies prepare to submit findings to OPCW over his 2024 prison death
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Saturday that the United Kingdom and allied governments have concluded that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned in prison with a rare and deadly neurotoxin found in Ecuadorian dart frogs.
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The announcement was made at the Munich Security Conference, where Yulia Navalnaya addressed reporters alongside foreign ministers from the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Yvette Cooper said laboratory analysis conducted by the UK, Sweden and other partners had identified epibatidine, a potent neurotoxin reported to be significantly stronger than morphine, in Alexei Navalny’s body.
Yvette Cooper alleged that only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy such a substance against a political prisoner.
The UK and its allies, including France, have been investigating the circumstances surrounding Alexei Navalny’s death on February 16, 2024, while he was serving a sentence in a penal colony in Siberia.
The governments plan to submit their findings to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for further scrutiny.
Speaking emotionally, Yulia Navalnaya said scientific findings now supported her belief that her husband had been deliberately poisoned.
Yulia Navalnaya had been attending the Munich Security Conference when news of his death first emerged two years ago.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the alleged toxin’s effects as particularly severe, while Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard emphasised the importance of establishing accountability.
It remains unclear how the substance was allegedly administered. Indigenous communities in parts of South America have historically used epibatidine in hunting darts, though there has been no public explanation of how such a toxin would have been introduced into a high-security penal facility.
Russian authorities had previously attributed Alexei Navalny’s death to underlying health conditions, including cardiac complications.
The Kremlin has not responded to the latest allegations.
Alexei Navalny had previously survived a 2020 poisoning involving a Novichok nerve agent before receiving treatment in Germany.
He later returned to Russia, where he was arrested and imprisoned.
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The Navalny poisoned with deadly frog toxin claim marks a dramatic escalation in diplomatic tensions, with Western governments signalling fresh pressure on Moscow as international investigators examine the new evidence.
