LONDON

Five European countries said on Saturday that Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny died in prison in 2024 after being poisoned with dart frog toxin.

In a joint statement, the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands said they are "confident" that Navalny was poisoned with a "lethal toxin" following "analyses of samples" from his body.

"This is the conclusion of our Governments based on analyses of samples from Alexei Navalny. These analyses have conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine," the statement said.

According to the European states, the epibatidine toxin found in the skin of dart frogs is native to South America and not naturally found in Russia.

"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."

"Russia’s repeated disregard for international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention is clear," the statement added.

In August 2020, the UK, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and partners had condemned "Russia’s use of Novichok to poison Alexei Navalny."

This followed the use of Novichok​​​​​​​ in Salisbury in 2018, which led to the death of a British national, Dawn Sturgess. The Russian government has always denied involvement in the Salisbury poisonings.

"These latest findings once again underline the need to hold Russia accountable for its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in this instance, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention," the European nations said.

The statement noted that permanent representatives of the five countries to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons wrote to the director general to inform him of this "Russian breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention."

The countries said they were "further concerned that Russia did not destroy all of its chemical weapons."

Moscow announced Navalny’s death in a Siberia prison in February 2024 while he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.

Russia's Federal Prison Service said the 47-year-old "felt bad" after a walk and lost consciousness "almost immediately."