UK Govt condemns Russia’s use of despicable tools, chemical weapons

The UK Government has condemned Russia’s use of “despicable tools” such as a lethal frog toxin reportedly deployed against Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian activist, who died in a Siberian prison two years ago. Navalny, opposed to President Vladimir Putin, died in February 2024 during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that consistent and collaborative laboratory testing work with European allies confirmed that the deadly toxin found in the skin of Ecuador dart frogs, namely epibatidine, was discovered in samples from Navalny’s body and “highly likely” resulted in his death. The UK said it has informed the Organisation on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of Russia’s “blatant breach” of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“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,” said Cooper, in a statement from the Munich Security conference in Germany this weekend. “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,” she said. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the UK has pursued the truth behind his death with partners from Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany ever since.

They now claim to have established that the Russian state used the lethal toxin to target Navalny and hold it 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 it is not found naturally in Russia. There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body,” the FCDO statement reads. Alexei NavalnyAlexei Navalny.