UK Blames Russia for Navalny's Death with Exotic Toxin

Sun Feb 15 2026 00:53:54 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition leader, was allegedly poisoned with a toxin derived from dart frogs, according to a joint report by the UK and European allies.

Two years after Alexei Navalny's death in a Siberian prison, the UK government and allied nations have accused Russia of using a lethal toxin known as epibatidine, sourced from dart frogs, to assassinate the opposition leader. The findings were presented during the Munich Security Conference, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper emphasizing that only the Kremlin had the means and motive to carry out such an attack. The analysis concluded that there is no innocent explanation for the presence of the toxin in Navalny's body, corroborating long-held suspicions of foul play.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, the UK and European allies have said.

Two years on from the death of Navalny at a Siberian penal colony, Britain and its allies have blamed the Kremlin following analysis of material samples found on his body.

There is no innocent explanation for the toxin, called epibatidine, being found in samples taken from Navalny's body, the UK Foreign Office said.

Speaking from the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: Only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.

While Cooper announced the findings, a joint statement was issued by the UK, 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 it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition.

In the statement the allies said: Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal 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 dart frogs in the wild in South America. Dart frogs in captivity 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 on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia's alleged breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Praising Navalny's huge courage, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his determination to expose the truth has left an enduring legacy. I am doing whatever it takes to defend our people, our values and our way of life from the threat of Russia and Putin's murderous intent, he added.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also said his country pays tribute to Navalny, who he suggested was killed for his fight in favour of a free and democratic Russia.

Navalny – an anti-corruption campaigner and Russia's most vociferous opposition leader - died suddenly in jail on 16 February 2024 at the age of 47.

In 2020 he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. He underwent treatment in Germany, and was arrested at the airport upon his return to Russia.

Before Saturday's announcement, Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya had consistently argued that her husband was killed by poisoning while serving a prison sentence in an Arctic penal colony in 2024. In September last year, Navalnaya said analysis of smuggled biological samples carried out by laboratories in two countries showed that her husband had been murdered.

She did not provide details on the poison allegedly used, on the samples or on the analysis – but challenged the two laboratories to publish their results.

Reacting to the announcement, Navalnaya said: I was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof. I am grateful to the European states for the meticulous work they carried out over two years and for uncovering the truth.

The Kremlin has not commented on the allegations. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who studiously avoided naming Navalny while he was alive, briefly referred to him a month after his death by stating that a person passing was always a sad event.

At the time of his death, Navalny had been in jail for three years on trumped-up charges and had recently been transferred to the penal colony.

According to Russian accounts, the 47-year-old took a short walk at his Siberian penal colony, said he felt unwell, then collapsed and never regained consciousness.

Speaking to BBC Russian, toxicology expert Jill Johnson said epibatidine was 200 times more potent than morphine. By acting on receptors in the central nervous system, it can cause muscle twitching and paralysis, seizures, slow heart rate, respiratory failure and finally death, she said.

The extremely rare neurotoxin is only found in one wild frog species in tiny quantities, and only when the frog eats a specific diet. She said: Finding the wild frog in the correct location that is eating the specific diet to create the correct alkaloids is almost impossible...almost.