Russia killed Putin critic Navalny by poisoning with ‘rare toxin,’ say European states
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Russia killed Putin critic Navalny by poisoning with ‘rare toxin,’ say European states")
Photograph: (AFP)
Navalny, 47, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February 2024 in a Siberian penal colony while serving a 19 year prision sentence.
Five European countries, including the UK, France and Germany, accused Russia of killing opposition leader and fierce Putin critic Alexi Navalny in a prison in 2024 by "poisoning" him with a "rare toxin," on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference.
There is no plausible explanation for the toxin called epibatidine, being found in Samples taken from Navalny's body, the UK Foreign Office said.
Navalny, 47, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February 2024 in a Siberian penal colony while serving a 19 year prision sentence.
A multi-agency inquiry involving the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands released its findings on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference, ahead of the second anniversary of his death.
The epibatidine toxin found in the skin of dart frogs native to South America was found in samples and "highly likely resulted in his death", the European states said.
"Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin to target Navalny during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and we hold it responsible for his death," the UK Foreign Office added in a statement.
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Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Navalny, said now it is proven scientifically that the Kremlin opponent had been murdered.
"Two years ago, I came on stage here and said that it was Vladimir Putin who killed my husband," Navalnaya said on the sidelines of the conference.
"I was, of course, certain that it was a murder, but back then, it was just words. But today these words have become science-proven facts," Navalnaya added.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who met Navalnaya while attending, said, "Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining light on the Kremlin's barbaric plot to silence his voice."
The countries also said that they notified the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the global Chemical weapon watchdog, with their findings over suspected violation of the convention by Russia.
"We are further concerned that Russia did not destroy all of its chemical weapons," the countries said, accusing Moscow of breaching the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Earlier, a Russian investigation concluded that Navalny died as a result of a combination of diseases. His family and supporters, however, rejected the finding,s accusing authorities of hiding the real cause of death.
