Navalny Was Poisoned With Frog Toxin, European Governments Say

Five European governments — Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands — said tests found epibatidine in the body of Aleksei A. Navalny, who died in a Russian Arctic prison in 2024. Epibatidine is a toxin found in South American poison dart frogs and, the statement said, is not found naturally in Russia.

The governments added that only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin during his imprisonment, a finding that challenges the official Russian account that he died of natural causes. The statement also said the discovery was clear evidence that Russia had not ended its use of chemical weapons and was disregarding international law.

Maria V. Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, called the claim a "P.R. campaign to deflect attention from pressing issues in the West" and said the Kremlin would not comment in detail until it had seen detailed test results. The U.S. government did not immediately comment.

Russia, Arctic

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