New Evidence Shows Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned with Frog Toxin in Russian Prison

European governments have released a joint statement confirming that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by epibatidine, a rare and powerful toxin only found in South American poison dart frogs. Analysis of body samples conclusively detected the substance, which does not occur naturally in Russia, leading the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands to assert that Moscow had the “means, motive and opportunity” to administer the poison while Navalny was imprisoned. The announcement comes as the second anniversary of his death approaches on 16 February 2024, and the findings are being reported to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was serving a 19-year sentence in a Siberian penal colony when he died. Russia had maintained that he died of natural causes, but Western leaders now say the evidence points to deliberate poisoning with a nerve agent far stronger than morphine. Navalny had previously survived a poisoning attempt with a Novichok nerve agent in 2020 and continued his anti-corruption activism until his death. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has welcomed the new findings and urged the international community to hold the Kremlin to account.