Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died two years ago, appears to have been poisoned. According to “Der Spiegel”, five European governments-Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands-plan to issue a joint statement at the Munich Security Conference later in the day.
Laboratory tests on tissue samples from Navalny’s body have detected the toxin epibatidin, a highly toxic compound found in South American poison‑dart frogs. Because Navalny was incarcerated in a Russian penal colony at the time of his death, the only plausible perpetrators are the Russian authorities.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, had already accused Russia of poisoning him the previous year, citing “foreign laboratory findings”. She did not specify which poison was identified, but demanded the release of the full investigative results.
In 2020, the Russian FSB had already used the nerve agent Novichok in a separate poisoning attempt against Navalny. He was saved by doctors at Berlin’s Charité hospital.
The five countries will also forward their findings to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), asserting that Russia has failed to destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons in accordance with international agreements.