Alexei Navalny, leader of the opposition to Vladimir Putin’s government in Russia, who died in a Siberian prison two years ago, was poisoned with the toxin epibatidine, a substance found only in frogs in South America. The conclusion of a joint analysis released this Saturday by the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
According to the investigation, given the toxicity of epibatidine and the reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely as the cause of death. “Navalny died while imprisoned, which means Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.
Russia said Navalny died of natural causes.
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According to the British body, Russia’s repeated disregard for international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention is evident. In August 2020, the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and partners had already condemned Russia’s use of the nerve agent novichok to poison Alexei Navalny. This followed Russia’s use of the same substance in Salisbury in 2018, which led to the tragic death of a British woman, Dawn Sturgess.
The United Kingdom commented in the note that these latest findings once again highlight the need to hold Russia accountable for its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in this case, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
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“Our Permanent Representatives to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons wrote to the Director General today to inform him of this Russian violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. We are concerned that Russia has not destroyed all of its chemical weapons,” they warned.
