MUNICH: Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, accused Russia of 'poisoning' opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison in 2024 using a "rare toxin", on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands are confident that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin," the countries said in a joint statement, following "analyses of samples" from his body.
The staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin died in an Arctic prison in February 2024, while serving a 19-year prison sentence.
The epibatidine toxin found in the skin of dart frogs native to South America was found in samples and "highly likely resulted in his death", the European states said.
"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 UK Foreign Office added in a statement. - AFP
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