LONDON (AP) — In a stark international condemnation, five European nations have jointly declared that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin using a rare and lethal toxin derived from poison dart frogs. The foreign ministries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands announced on Saturday that laboratory analysis of samples from Navalny's body conclusively identified the presence of epibatidine.
Conclusive Evidence of a Rare Neurotoxin
Epibatidine is a potent neurotoxin naturally found in the skin of dart frogs native to South America, a substance not present in Russia's natural environment. The countries emphasized in a unified statement that this finding points directly to Russian involvement, stating Russia possessed the means, motive, and opportunity to administer this poison. They have formally reported Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for breaching the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalnaya's Response and the Munich Conference
The announcement coincided with Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany, as the second anniversary of his death approaches. Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin who led anti-corruption campaigns and massive protests, died on February 16, 2024, in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence he deemed politically motivated.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper asserted, "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."
Historical Context and Previous Poisoning
Navalnaya revealed last year that two independent laboratories had detected poisoning shortly before his death, and she has consistently blamed Putin, a claim Russian officials deny. On Saturday, she expressed certainty from the outset, stating, "but now there is proof." In a social media post, she labeled Putin "a murderer" who "must be held accountable," accusing him of killing Navalny with a chemical weapon.
Russian authorities maintain that Navalny fell ill after a walk and died from natural causes, a narrative contradicted by the new evidence. Epibatidine, while naturally occurring in dart frogs, can also be synthesized in laboratories, a method European scientists suspect was employed in this case. The toxin mimics nerve agents, inducing symptoms like shortness of breath, convulsions, seizures, slowed heart rate, and ultimately death.
Pattern of Chemical Weapons Use
This incident echoes a 2020 poisoning where Navalny was targeted with a nerve agent, an attack he attributed to the Kremlin, which denied involvement. After treatment in Germany, he returned to Russia only to be arrested and imprisoned for the final three years of his life. The U.K. has accused Russia of repeatedly violating international bans on chemical and biological weapons, citing the 2018 Salisbury attack that used Novichok nerve agent against former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal. A British inquiry concluded that attack was authorized at the highest level by President Putin, though the Kremlin denies any role.
The joint European statement underscores a growing international outcry over Russia's alleged use of chemical weapons, highlighting Navalny's death as a pivotal case in the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
