EXPLAINERThe UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands allege that Russia poisoned Navalny, which caused his death about two years ago.Listen to this articleListen to this article | 5 minsinfoFive European countries – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands – have accused Russia of using a toxin from poison dart frogs to kill Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.The European allies claimed on Saturday that Navalny was poisoned while he was held in an Arctic penal colony two years ago, a claim Moscow rejected as propaganda.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listNavalny died, aged 47, in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024, after being convicted of extremism and other charges, all of which he denied. Russian authorities said the politician became ill after a walk and died from natural causes.What did the European countries say about Navalny’s poisoning?In a joint statement, the five countries said analyses of samples from Navalny’s body “conclusively” confirmed the presence of epibatidine, a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America and not found naturally in Russia.The UK said on Saturday the poisoning demonstrated “an alarming pattern of behaviour”.It held a public inquiry into the poisoning in the UK of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. It concluded last year that Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the Novichok nerve agent attack.“Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. But given the toxicity of epibatidine and reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely the cause of his death,” the joint statement said.The joint statement added that the latest findings underlined the need for Russia to be held accountable for “its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in this instance, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention”. Advertisement It is unclear how the European allies obtained samples from Navalny’s body.What are poison dart frogs?The statement said analysis of samples from Navalny’s body confirmed the presence of epibatidine.Epibatidine is a neurotoxin secreted by dart frogs in the wild in South America. These small and brightly coloured frogs are typically found in rainforests.It can also be manufactured in a lab, which European scientists suspect was the case with the substance used on Navalny. It works on the body in a similar way to nerve agents, causing shortness of breath, convulsions, seizures, a slowed heart rate and ultimately death.How did Russia respond?The Russian government, which has repeatedly denied any responsibility for Navalny’s death, dismissed the latest allegations as “a Western propaganda hoax”, according to the state news agency TASS, while the Russian embassy in London said: “One must ask what kind of person would believe this nonsense about a frog.”“When the test results are available and the formulas for the substances are disclosed, we will comment accordingly,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by the agency.“Until then, all such assertions are merely propaganda aimed at diverting attention from pressing Western issues,” TASS quoted her as …
