Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has announced her intention to run for president of Russia, as international investigators concluded he was poisoned to death with a nerve agent.
The findings, released Saturday by the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, determined that Navalny was likely killed by exposure to epibatidine, a highly toxic substance derived from the skin of Ecuadorian dart frogs. The countries plan to submit their findings to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), of which Russia is a member.
The Kremlin continues to maintain that Navalny died of natural causes although serving a prison sentence in Siberia in February 2024. However, the international investigation points to a deliberate act, utilizing a chemical weapon, to silence the prominent critic of Vladimir Putin.
Evgeny Feldman, a Russian photographer and close friend of Navalny, questioned the ability of European nations to enact meaningful consequences against Russia without the backing of the United States. Speaking from Latvia, where he fled following Navalny’s arrest, Feldman dismissed the prospect of a constructive relationship between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin as “ridiculous and…counterproductive.”
“The shortest way to peace in Ukraine is to arm Ukraine, to help them fight back,” Feldman stated, adding that Trump appeared to misunderstand the nature of the current Russian regime. “They naively think that they can get back to the Putin of 15 years ago and have this cosy business relationship with him, [but] that man is lost. He is a dictator, like the ones who were written in history books.”
Feldman emphasized that harming Putin’s interests globally was the most effective path toward change within Russia, and reiterated that increased support for Ukraine remained paramount. “Every new piece of information we have about how barbaric Putin is, how much of a murderer he is, has to lead to support for those who suffer from him directly, and who can respond directly and painfully to his aggression.”
Experts suggest the U.S. Approach to Russia under a potential second Trump administration may be more conciliatory. Stephen Hall, assistant professor in Russian and post-Soviet politics at the University of Bath, noted that the U.S. Has “been quite clear for a long time that Notice deals to be made” with Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently reported that Russia proposed a $12 trillion economic partnership with the U.S., a claim Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not dismiss, citing potential joint ventures.
“You don’t really want to antagonise the people you want to make a deal with,” Hall observed.
Epibatidine, the toxin identified as the likely cause of Navalny’s death, is a potent neurotoxin. Kevin Arbuckle, associate professor in evolution and herpetology at Swansea University, explained that while naturally occurring in dart frogs, it can be synthesized in laboratories, making access to the frogs themselves unnecessary. He described the toxin as “rapid and highly effective,” potentially causing paralysis and respiratory failure, and noted that even a minuscule dose – as little as 0.4 micrograms – could be lethal to a lab mouse.
Simon Smith, a former UK ambassador to Ukraine, anticipates Russia will deny responsibility and accuse Western nations of “Russophobia.” He believes any further punitive measures are likely to be limited to individual sanctions, with a greater focus on targeting Russia’s energy sector to diminish its capacity to fund the war in Ukraine.
Drawing parallels to the 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, Smith highlighted Russia’s history of denying involvement in such incidents and subsequently attempting to discredit investigations with fabricated evidence presented to the OPCW and the UN Security Council. In 2020, Novichok, the same nerve agent used in the Skripal poisoning, was also implicated in an attack against Navalny.
Rick Fawn, professor of international relations at the University of St Andrews, suggested the use of Novichok against Navalny was intended to inflict prolonged suffering, sending a message to others. Arbuckle, however, noted that epibatidine is likely to act more quickly, potentially inducing analgesia alongside its toxic effects.
