The United Kingdom claims that Russia killed Alexei Navalny, former Russian opposition leader, in prison using poison from a poison dart frog while he was held in a polar region prison.
On 14 Feb 2026, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) alleged that Alexei Navalny, the former Russian opposition leader who died two years ago, was killed by a poison developed from toxins of a poison dart frog.
The FCDO stated that recent analysis of samples taken from Navalny's body found the toxin called "epibatidine" present in his system.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said at the Munich Security Conference, "Only the Russian government had the means, motive, and opportunity to use this deadly toxin on Alexei Navalny while he was imprisoned in Russia."
"Russia saw Navalny as a threat," Cooper added. "The use of this kind of poison shows the vile tools the Russian state has and the overwhelming fear it holds toward political opposition."
The UK is the latest country to accuse Russia of poisoning Navalny, following Sweden, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. The FCDO said the UK has notified the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons about allegations that Russia violated the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalny was an anti-corruption campaigner and the most prominent opposition leader against Vladimir Putin's government, leading to multiple arrests.
In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok and treated in Germany. After recovery, he chose to return to Russia to continue his political fight and was immediately arrested upon arrival in Moscow.
He was then sentenced to three years in prison on charges he denied, and was transferred to a penal colony in the Arctic Circle, where he suddenly died on 16 Feb 2024.
According to Russian claims, the 47-year-old took a brief walk inside the Siberian penal colony before feeling unwell, collapsing, and never regaining consciousness.
Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has consistently insisted her husband was murdered by poisoning. She reiterated on Saturday, "I was certain from day one that my husband was poisoned, and now there is evidence."
"I am grateful to the European states for their meticulous work over the past two years and for revealing the truth," she added, while Russia has yet to comment on these allegations.
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Source:bbc