Alexei Navalny was killed by Russia with poison dart frog toxin, 5 European countries say
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a rare lethal toxin found in poison dart frogs from South America, according to a joint statement from the U.K., France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.
The European partners said they are confident in their determination based on analyses of samples from Navalny which confirmed the presence of the lethal toxin, Epibatidine.
Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony at age 47, Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service announced in February 2024.
"Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. But given the toxicity of epibatidine and reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely the cause of his death," the European partners said.
"Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him," the statement added.
Speaking at a news conference with Slovakia’s prime minister in Bratislava on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the report when asked why the U.S. wasn't included on the joint statement.
"Look, those countries came to that conclusion. They coordinated that," Rubio told reporters. "Doesn't mean we disagree with the outcome. We just, it wasn't, you know, our endeavor."
“We obviously are aware of the report. It's a troubling report. We're aware of that case of Mr. Navalny, and certainly it's, you know – we don't have any reason to question it, or we're not disputing or getting into a fight with these countries over it, but it was their report, and they put that out there," Rubio added.
Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said in a social media post that she "was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon."
Navalnaya said she was grateful to the countries who have worked on the investigation.
"Vladimir Putin is a murderer. He must be held accountable for all his crimes," she said.
The Russian Embassy to the U.K. posted a statement to its social media saying of the European countries' findings that Navalny was poisoned, "There is no reason whatsoever to credit such 'findings' by Western "experts'."
A Russian judge had sentenced the high-profile critic of Putin to 19 years in prison for extremism charges in 2023, in addition to the nearly 12-year sentence he was already serving at a penal colony east of Moscow.
Later that same year, he was transported to a "special regime" facility north of the Arctic Circle.
ABC News' Victoria Beaule and Nicholas Kerr contributed to this report.
