Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, accused Moscow on Saturday of “poisoning” Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in 2024 with a “rare toxin”. This happened during the currently ongoing Munich Security Conference, TASR informs, according to an AFP report.
- Five countries accused Russia of poisoning Navalny with a toxin.
- Analyzes confirmed the presence of epibatidine toxin in the remains of Navalny.
- The accusations were made during the Munich Security Conference.
- Russia denies the claims and cites another cause of death.
- Navalny’s widow claims that Putin is responsible for his death.
“We know that the Russian state used this deadly toxin to attack Navalny out of fear of his backlash,” Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement alongside Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany. The announcement came shortly before the second anniversary of the death of Navalny, who was a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Toxin in the remains of Navalny
The countries jointly said that analyzes of Navalny’s remains showed traces of the highly potent toxin epibatidine.
Britain also said it had reported Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The opposition politician and founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) Alexei Navalny died on February 16, 2024, at the age of 47, in the Polar Wolf prison camp in the town of Charp, which is located in the Yamalsko-Nenetsk Autonomous District beyond the Arctic Circle.
Accusations and Moscow’s response
The prison service there claimed that Navalny suddenly felt nauseous during the walk, lost consciousness, and neither the prison medics nor the called paramedics were able to revive him. Supporters of the opposition activist say he was murdered on Putin’s orders. Moscow has long denied these accusations.
Navalny’s widow Julija was present at the announcement in Munich. As she stated, her husband’s murder is now a “scientifically proven fact”. The findings prove that Putin is a murderer, she added.
Effects of epibatidine
“Alexei Navalny was poisoned in Russian custody,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said according to the DPA agency. According to him, Navalny’s remains contained epibatidine, an extremely potent nerve toxin found in the skin secretions of certain species of highly poisonous frogs in Ecuador.
Wadephul added that the substance is about 200 times stronger than morphine and paralyzes the respiratory muscles, causing victims to suffocate.
It was not immediately clear when, where or how the analyzes were carried out, the German agency recalls.
