Two years after the death of Alexei Navalny in a polar prison colony, five European nations—Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands—are preparing to present evidence that the opposition politician was poisoned.
According to reports by Der Spiegel, samples of Navalny's tissue revealed the presence of the highly toxic poison epibatidine, a substance found in nature within certain species of tropical poison dart frogs. While Russian investigators officially attributed the 47-year-old politician's death to a "combination of diseases," independent examinations conducted in several European laboratories confirmed the presence of the toxic substance.
Reports indicate that the samples necessary for the analysis were secretly taken from the deceased's body and smuggled out of Russia to the West. This discovery refutes the initial version provided by Russian authorities and confirms long-standing suspicions held by the politician's family and associates.
In a joint statement timed to coincide with the Munich Security Conference, the European countries place direct responsibility for the incident on the Russian leadership and President Vladimir Putin personally. The authors of the document emphasize that only the Kremlin and state intelligence services had access to the prisoner in the strict-regime facility, as well as a clear motive for his physical elimination.
The situation extends beyond a political scandal, as the five states intend to formally petition the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In their view, the use of such toxins demonstrates that Russia has violated international agreements and maintained hidden stockpiles of banned poisonous substances. This marks the second confirmed instance of chemical weapons being used against Navalny following the 2020 assassination attempt involving Novichok.