On Saturday, five European allies accused Russia of using poison dart frog venom to kill late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny during his detention in an Arctic prison colony two years ago. Moscow dismissed the accusation as slander.
Analysis of samples from Navalny’s corpse “conclusively” verified the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in South American poison dart frogs that is not naturally present in Russia, according to a joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
The latest accusations were rejected as “a Western propaganda hoax” by the Russian government, which has denied responsibility for Navalny’s murder on numerous occasions, said Russian state news agency TASS.
The poisoning showed “an alarming pattern of behavior,” according to Britain on Saturday.
In 2018, the nation conducted a public investigation into the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain. It was determined that the Novichok nerve toxin attack must have been ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year.
TASS quoted Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, as saying, “We will comment appropriately when the test results are available and the formulas for the substances are disclosed.”
She said, “Until then, all such assertions are merely propaganda aimed at diverting attention from pressing Western issues,” according to the news agency.
Additionally, according to the report, she called Navalny a blogger who was “officially designated as a terrorist and extremist in Russia.”
When UK based news agency Reuters asked the British government how the samples from Navalny’s body were collected and where they were evaluated, the government did not reply.
British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper told reporters that UK scientists worked with their European partners to pursue the truth regarding Navalny’s murder.
In February 2024, Russian opposition leader Navalny passed away in an Arctic prison colony following his conviction on allegations of extremism and other offenses, which he denied.
His death was revealed just minutes before the 2024 Munich Security Conference got underway.
Yulia Navalnaya, his widow, addressed the conference and demanded that Putin be held responsible after the conference made an unusual scheduling change to accommodate her.