The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison derived from a highly rare dart frog toxin, according to allegations made by British officials. The accusation comes as international scrutiny intensifies over the circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death and highlights the Kremlin’s alleged utilize of extreme measures against political dissent.
Speaking on Sunday, February 14, 2026, the UK government stated that analysis of samples taken from Navalny’s body, who died in a Siberian penal colony two years prior, pointed to the use of the potent toxin. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper asserted that “only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity” to administer the poison while Navalny was imprisoned in Russia.
Moscow has dismissed the findings as a “information campaign,” according to the Tass news agency. However, Cooper emphasized that there is no credible explanation for the presence of the toxin, identified as epibatidine.

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Cooper announced the findings in a joint statement issued by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. She met with Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, at a security conference this weekend.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat,” Cooper stated. “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.”
The allied nations affirmed that only the Russian state possessed the capability, motivation, and opportunity to deploy the lethal toxin against Navalny during his imprisonment in Siberia, holding Russia responsible for his death.
“Epibatidine can be found naturally in dart frogs in the wild in South America. Dart frogs in captivity do not produce this toxin and We see not found naturally in Russia,” the statement read. “There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body.”
The UK’s Foreign Office announced it has informed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s alleged breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Navalny’s determination to reveal the truth has left a lasting legacy.
“I will do whatever it takes to defend our people, our values, and our way of life from the threat of Russia and Putin’s murderous intent,” Starmer said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot as well stated that his country “pays tribute” to Navalny, who he said was killed for his fight for a free and democratic Russia.
Navalny was a prominent anti-corruption activist and Russia’s most vocal opposition leader. He died suddenly in prison on February 16, 2024, at the age of 47.
He was previously poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020, receiving treatment in Germany before being arrested upon his return to Russia.
A ‘highly rare’ toxin
Epibatidine, the toxin that British and European allies allege was used to kill Alexei Navalny, originates from a group of poison dart frogs native to northern South America. While epibatidine has been researched as a potential pain reliever and for treating inflammatory lung conditions, it is considered too toxic for clinical use.
Speaking to BBC Russia, toxicologist Jill Johnson explained that the substance is “200 times more potent than morphine.” It works on receptors in the central nervous system, potentially causing “muscle twitching and paralysis, seizures, slowed heart rate, respiratory failure, and death.”
Johnson said this extremely rare neurotoxin is found in only one species of wild frog in small amounts, and only when the frog consumes a specific diet. Researchers believe the frogs acquire it through their food, as animals from different habitats show varying levels of the toxin, and those raised in captivity lack it entirely. She described it as “a very unusual way to poison someone.”
“Finding a wild frog in the right location eating the right food to produce the right alkaloid is almost impossible,” she said.
Prior to the announcement, Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has consistently maintained that her husband was poisoned while serving a prison sentence in an Arctic penal colony in 2024. In September of last year, Navalnaya said analysis of smuggled biological samples conducted by laboratories in two countries showed that her husband had been “murdered.”
“I knew from the first day that my husband was poisoned, but now there is proof. I thank the European countries for the thorough work they have done over two years and for revealing the truth,” she said.
According to state-owned news agency Tass, Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova said “All the talk and statements are an information campaign aimed at diverting attention from urgent Western problems.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has carefully avoided naming Navalny during his lifetime, briefly mentioned him a month after his death, stating that someone’s passing is “always a tragedy.”
At the time of his death, Navalny had been imprisoned for three years on what were described as politically motivated charges. Russian reports indicate the 47-year-old was walking in the Siberian penal colony when he felt unwell, collapsed, and never regained consciousness.
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(haf/imk)
