Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny likely died of poisoning in prison, European leaders say

An analysis of samples from late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny shows he was likely fatally poisoned in a Russian prison, according to several European governments.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said they are confident that Navalny was poisoned. Navalny’s samples “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine,” a toxin found in South American poison frogs, according to the statement.

“Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes,” the countries said. “But given the toxicity of epibatidine and the reported symptoms, it is very likely that poisoning was the cause of his death. Navalny died while in prison, which means that Russia had the means, the motive and the opportunity to administer this poison to him.”

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement that “Russia saw Navalny as a threat” and poisoned him as a show of force.

“By using this form of poison, the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition,” Cooper said.

The UK Foreign Office said that “only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Navalny” and that it “holds it responsible for his death.”

Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnayastated at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that her husband’s death was now a “scientifically proven fact,” according to News.

“Two years ago I went on stage and said it was Vladimir Putin who killed my husband,” said Navalnaya, who said in September that independent laboratories discovered that her husband was poisoned shortly before his death, but did not provide evidence for the claim or give further details about what the suspected poison was. At the time, he said labs were not publishing their results due to “political considerations.”

“Of course, I was sure it was a murder,” Navalnaya continued, News reported. “Back then, they were just words. But today these words have become facts proven by science.”

Navalny was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest critic. He crusaded against official corruption and organized mass protests against the Kremlin. He was poisoned with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent while flying from Moscow to Siberia in 2020 and was treated in Germany. Navalny later said Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes. who believed the poisoning was an assassination attempt masterminded by Putin. Russia has denied any involvement.

Navalny returned to Moscow in 2021, facing sure arrest. He was convicted three times and received a 19-year sentence for extremism. Navalny called the charges politically motivated.

He was imprisoned in January 2021 and moved to a arctic penal colony at the end of 2023. He died there in February 2024.

Russian authorities gave few details about the cause of Navalny’s death. Navalnaya said in August 2024 that Russian investigators told her that Navalny died from a combination of “a dozen different illnesses” and that he eventually succumbed to an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, after a walk. Navalnaya said her husband had no case of heart disease before he was imprisoned.

European leaders accused Russia of having “repeated disregard for international law” and the Chemical Weapons Convention, a 1997 treaty that prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Russia has also been accused of using Novichok in a 2018 incident which led to the death of a British woman, Dawn Sturgess.

“We are further concerned that Russia has not destroyed all of its chemical weapons,” the European leaders said. “We and our partners will use all political levers at our disposal to continue to hold Russia to account.”