The Kremlin flatly rejected accusations from five European nations that the Russian state was responsible for the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, the late Kremlin critic, with a toxin derived from poison dart frogs. The allegations, which Moscow dismissed as “biased and unfounded,” approach close to the second anniversary of Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony on February 16, 2024.
“Naturally, we do not accept such accusations. We disagree with them,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, February 16, 2026, according to Reuters. “We consider them biased and unfounded. And, in fact, we strongly reject them.”
The joint statement released Saturday by the foreign ministries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, detailed that analysis of samples taken from Navalny’s body “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.” This neurotoxin is found in the skin of poison dart frogs native to South America and is not naturally occurring in Russia, the statement said. The five nations reported Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, alleging a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Navalny, a prominent figure in Russia’s opposition movement, led numerous anti-Kremlin protests and campaigned against official corruption. His death, while serving a 19-year sentence he maintained was politically motivated, drew widespread international condemnation. Western nations had previously criticized the March 2024 presidential election that saw Vladimir Putin re-elected as neither free nor fair.
According to the Associated Press, epibatidine causes muscle paralysis and eventual asphyxiation. Experts have noted that the toxin can also be synthetically produced, rather than extracted directly from the frogs themselves.
The European statement did not specify how the toxin was administered. News agencies reported that dozens of people visited Navalny’s grave in Moscow on Monday to mark the anniversary of his death, with some attendees concealing their faces with masks or scarves.
Russian authorities have consistently denied responsibility for Navalny’s death, previously attributing it to natural causes. They have also outlawed Navalny’s movement, designating it as extremist.
