Putin ‘ordered rival’s homicide with poison from frog’
Laboratory testing showed that the deadly toxin found in the skin of the frogs (epibatidine) was found in samples from Mr Navalny’s body and highly likely resulted in his death
Vladimir Putin was accused of murdering his rival with poison(Image: AP)
Vladimir Putin had Alexei Navalny murdered in a Russian prison using a toxin from an Ecuador dart frog, the UK Government has claimed.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the “barbaric” act – using a neurotoxin that is classed as a chemical weapon – could only have been carried out by the Kremlin.
It is not clear how the frog poison, epibatidine, was allegedly administered to Mr Navalny, who had been in a penal colony in Siberia when he died almost exactly two years ago. The poison is 200 times stronger than morphine.
The Foreign Office claimed only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to use the lethal toxin to target Mr Navalny during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and were responsible for his death.
The UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands along wing France had been working together to establish how Mr Navalny, 47, died.
The announcement comes as the Foreign Secretary attends the Munich Security Conference where she met with Yulia Navalnaya to reflect on her husband’s legacy.
Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: “Since Yulia Navalnaya announced the loss of her husband here in Munich two years ago, the UK has pursued the truth of Alexei Navalny’s death with fierce determination.
“Only the Russian Government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia. Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plot to silence his voice.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat. 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.”
Laboratory testing showed that the deadly toxin found in the skin of the frogs (epibatidine) was found in samples from Mr Navalny’s body and highly likely resulted in his death.
Ms Navalny had been at the Munich Security Conference when the news of her husband’s death broke on February 16, 2024. Speaking on Saturday, she said: “It was the most horrible day in my life. I came to the stage and I said my husband, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned. What could else happen with Putin’s number one enemy in a Russian prison? But now I understand and I know it is not just words. It is scientific proof.”
The UK has now informed the Organisation on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s blatant breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
