CIS

Home page

CIS

Navalny's death was caused by dart frog poison

14 February 2026 22:37 (UTC +04:00)

Five European allies on Saturday blamed Russia for killing late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using toxin from poison dart frogs while he was held in an Arctic penal colony two years ago, APA reports citing Reuters.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analyses of samples from Navalny's body "conclusively" confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and not found naturally in Russia.

The Russian government has repeatedly denied any responsibility for Navalny's death. Its embassy in London did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Britain on Saturday said the poisoning demonstrated "an alarming pattern of behaviour". The country held a public inquiry into the poisoning in Britain of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. It concluded last year Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack.