UK says Russia poisoned Navalny in prison with dart frog toxin

Sagarika Jaisinghani, Bloomberg News on Feb 14, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a deadly toxin found in the skin of Ecuador dart frogs, the U.K.’s foreign office said on Saturday.

The toxin — epibatidine — was found in samples from Navalny’s body and “highly likely resulted in his death,” according to a statement issued by U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper at the Munich Security Conference.

“Only the Russian state had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin to target Navalny during his imprisonment in a Russian penal colony in Siberia, and we hold it responsible for his death,” the statement said.

Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent, died in February 2024 at the age of 47 in a camp where he was serving a 19-year sentence for extremism. His supporters and Western governments blamed the Kremlin for his death.

The joint statement — made with Sweden, France, the Netherlands and Germany — said Russia had “brazenly” developed and deployed the poison in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.