A photo shared on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Instagram account shows him on a hospital bed surrounded by his wife and two children during treatment continues in Berlin, Germany, on September 15, 2020, after being poisoned. He had been targeted multiple times. Photo / Social media
Alexei Navalny was killed with a lethal toxin found in Ecuadorian dart frogs and administered by assassins acting for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the United Kingdom has revealed.
The Russian opposition leader died in 2024 while incarcerated in a Siberian prison after years of accusing Putin and the Kremlin of corruption.
The UK Foreign Office announcement came as Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, said he wanted to forge stronger military and defensive links with Europe because “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression”.
The findings from analysis of biological material removed from Navalny’s cell were also revealed, just two days before the second anniversary of his death.
Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, said in Germany: “Since Yulia Navalnaya announced the loss of her husband here in Munich two years ago, the UK has pursued the truth of Alexei Navalny’s death with fierce determination. Only the Russian Government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.
“Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin’s barbaric plot to silence his voice.
“Russia saw Navalny as a threat. 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 UK has informed the Organisation on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s “blatant breach” of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
A statement from the Foreign Office said: “Epibatidine can be found naturally in dart frogs in the wild in South America. Dart frogs in captivity do not produce this toxin, and it is not found naturally in Russia. There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body.”
The Foreign Office accused Russia of having “brazenly developed and deployed this poison in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention”.
It added: “Russia’s egregious and irresponsible actions, including its barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine, continue to threaten our shared security. Time and again, the Russian state shows the depths it is willing to go to terrorise people and undermine democracy.”
Navalny died suddenly in prison on February 16, 2024, aged 47. He had been imprisoned for three years on “trumped-up charges” and been transferred to a penal colony in the Arctic Circle.
His supporters, along with his wife, have always insisted that the Russian Government killed him. Last year, she published a video on social media in which she claimed analysis of smuggled biological samples by scientists from two countries showed her husband had been murdered.
She did not reveal what type of toxin had been used, but issued a challenge to the laboratories to publish their findings, claiming “they do not want an inconvenient truth to surface at the wrong time”.
Although she did not reveal where the laboratories were based, she did suggest a decision had been made not to go public because of “political considerations”.
Navalnaya said her late husband’s supporters were able to “obtain and securely transfer” biological samples from his prison cell, which were then sent to the labs.
It is believed Navalny had been taken out for a walk but suddenly felt ill. He was escorted back to his cell, where he lay on the floor and began “moaning in pain” before vomiting.
His widow claims an ambulance was not called for 40 minutes, and that prison guards had watched him writhing in agony through the bars of his cell.
Prison authorities later told Navalny’s mother Lyudmila that her son had experienced “sudden death syndrome”. State investigators said the death had been caused by arrhythmia, an abnormal heart rhythm, and another medical condition.
His supporters have released photographs of the small snow-covered exercise yard and the cell where he collapsed, and vomit can be seen.
The blogger had survived numerous poisoning attempts and endured years in some of Russia’s most notorious jails. His Anti-Corruption Foundation claimed to have exposed corruption within the Russian state, often targeting Putin himself.
But in February 2024, the Russian prison service announced that he had gone for a walk when he lost consciousness and died. The Kremlin issued a statement saying only that it was aware of his death and the president had been informed.
Around the world, there was widespread condemnation of what many believed was a state-sponsored killing.
Navalny was born in 1976, in a village to the west of Moscow. He grew up in Obninsk and graduated in law at Moscow’s Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in 1998.
In the 2000s, he became a prominent figure prepared to stand up to Putin’s regime. He used his blog and social media to regularly accuse the state and corporations it controlled of corrupt practices.
He would buy small stakes in major oil companies, banks and ministries so he could then ask awkward questions about state finances. He accused Putin of “sucking the blood out of Russia” through a “feudal system” akin to tsarist Russia.
His role as the unofficial opposition to Putin was solidified when, in 2011, he led large street protests against the president.
As a result, he was branded by the Kremlin as an “extremist” and repeatedly arrested and thrown in jail. In 2017, he was barred from standing in the general election.
In 2019, while serving a prison sentence for calling for unauthorised protests, he was taken to hospital with a swollen face, rashes and eye problems. Although officials said it was an allergic reaction, many believed it was the first suspected poisoning.
In August 2020, he collapsed on a flight and was rushed to hospital after the plane was diverted to Omsk. He was then transferred to Berlin for further treatment.
The German Government said tests carried out by its military found “unequivocal proof of a chemical nerve warfare agent of the Novichok group”. The Kremlin rejected the Novichok finding, and denied any involvement. Navalny was arrested at the airport upon his return to Russia.
His funeral in Moscow attracted thousands of supporters, despite warnings from authorities not to attend.
The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in Navalny’s death. It has yet to comment on the latest revelations.
In 2018, Russian agents targeted Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok in Salisbury. That March, the Skripals and Nick Bailey, a former police officer, were all poisoned by the nerve agent after Russian secret service agents were said to have targeted the Wiltshire city.
More than 80 people went to A&E, and Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother-of-three, died after exposure to Novichok left in a discarded perfume bottle in nearby Amesbury.
Although the Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against three Russian suspects, they have never faced justice.
Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin were alleged to have smeared the Novichok on the handle of former GRU officer Sergei Skripal’s front door.
Security sources believe a senior Russian agent, Denis Sergeev, was the on-the-ground commander. The Kremlin always denied any involvement.
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