Five European nations confirm Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with epibatidine while imprisoned in Russia.
Poison Discovery
Samples taken from Alexei Navalny’s body after his death in February 2024 contained epibatidine, a highly toxic substance naturally found in poison dart frogs. The German magazine “Der Spiegel” first reported the findings. The samples were reportedly secretly taken from Navalny’s body and smuggled from Russia to Western Europe for analysis in laboratories across several countries.
International Condemnation
Five nations—Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands—issued a joint statement at the Munich Security Conference, directly blaming Russia and President Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s death. They noted that only the Kremlin and its security services had access to the heavily penal colony where the opposition leader was imprisoned and that the Kremlin had motive to silence the opposition leader.
