UK says Russia killed opposition leader Alexei Navalny with poison frog toxin
News
Express newspaper
15/02/2026 8:28
BBC – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, the United Kingdom and European allies said.
Two years after Navalny’s death in a Siberian penal colony, Britain and its allies have blamed the Kremlin after analysis of samples of materials found on his body.
Speaking from the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that “only the Russian government had the means, the motive and the opportunity” to use the poison while Navalny was imprisoned in Russia.
According to the Tass news agency, Moscow has dismissed the finding as “an information campaign”, but Cooper said there is no explanation for the finding of the toxin, called epibatidine.
As Cooper announced the findings, a joint statement was issued by the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Cooper met with Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, at the conference this weekend.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat,” Cooper said at the event.
“By using this form of poison, the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of the political opposition,” she added.
In the statement, the allies said: “Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to use this deadly toxin to target Navalny during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and we hold it responsible for his death.
“Epibatidine can be found naturally in wild dart frogs in South America. Captive dart frogs do not produce this toxin, and it is not found naturally in Russia.”
“There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body.”
The Foreign Office said the UK has informed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s alleged breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Praising Navalny’s “great courage”, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his “determination to uncover the truth has left a lasting legacy”.
“I am doing whatever it takes to protect our people, our values, and our way of life from the threat of Russia and Putin’s murderous intent,” he added.