Many followers of Russian Alexei Navalny continue to search for the hidden reasons for his premature death. According to the British newspaper Epibatide, a toxin 100 times more potent than morphine, could be the answer to the question. The activist and opponent of Vladimir Putin died in February 2024 under suspicious circumstances. In a joint statement, they accused Moscow of the poisoning.
As the post states, “Similar to nicotine, it comes from the Epipedobates genus of poison dart frogs, found exclusively in northern South America.” The crucial thing about this thesis is that these animals are not native to Russia.
In this way, the species accumulate this toxin in the walls of their skin. The researchers consulted by the media theorize that Frogs acquire the toxin through their diet, since animals bred in captivity lack it, and wild populations have variable levels depending on their habitat.
Likewise, epibatidine has been investigated in painful inflammatory conditions of the lung, such as asthma or fibrosis. “It is approximately one hundred times more powerful than morphine” and, due to its toxicity, it is not used clinically.
“Any poisoned person dies of asphyxiation”
In statements reported by the British newspaper, the professor of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Leeds, in the north of England, Alastair Hayassures that the substance in question “acts to inhibit nervous action by blocking nicotinic receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems.” “The effect of blocking these receptors is the,” he says.
“So breathing is blocked, and anyone poisoned dies from asphyxiation,” he explains, adding that the presence of the toxin in a person’s blood “suggests deliberate administration.” “Epibatidine toxicity may even be increased by coadministration of certain other drugs and these combinations have been investigated.”
In this way, he explains, in his conversation with the newspaper, that if the toxin was really used to poison the Russian activist, Russia violated the 1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).in which he signed and was in favor. “If Russia used Epibatidine to poison Mr. Navalny, it has violated two treaties that it has sworn to respect,” he concludes.
