Epibatidine is a toxic substance similar to nicotine. According to scientists, it is about 100 times more potent than morphine.
Britain and its European allies have accused Russia of using poison dart frogs to kill opposition leader and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny.
Britain and its European allies have accused Russia of using dart frog poison to kill opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. The UK, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands have also issued a joint statement saying that an investigation has found evidence of the use of dart frog poison. Navalny died in a Siberian prison on February 16, 2024. Russian officials said he was unconscious when he was taken to hospital after falling. Navalny fell ill in 2020 while travelling from Siberia to Moscow and fell into a coma. He was treated in Germany. During that time, it was revealed that he had been poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent. After treatment, he returned to Russia, defying Western governments' requests not to return. However, on January 17, 2021, Russian authorities arrested him at the airport in Moscow. He was then charged with extremism and sentenced to 19 years in prison. He was held in the Arctic Penal Colony in Siberia. There, he died mysteriously. Britain and its allies have claimed that dart frog poison was used after analyzing samples of the material found on Navalny's body.
The dart frog is found in Central and South America. It eats insects and small poisonous bacteria found in the forest. Through these bacteria, toxins such as batrachotoxin and epibatidine enter its body.
European authorities have concluded that epibatidine was used to kill Navalny. Epibatidine has previously been investigated as a painkiller and a treatment for lung inflammation. However, it has not been used clinically because it is so toxic. British toxicologist Jill Johnson said the poison is about 200 times more potent than morphine. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the poison was used while Navalny was in prison. Moscow has denied the claim, Russian state media TASS reported. During the conference, Kapoor met Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya. "Russia sees Navalny as a threat," Kapoor said on the show. She said the poison found in Navalny's body was not an accident but a planned conspiracy. It can affect receptors in the central nervous system, causing paralysis, slowing of the heart rate, respiratory arrest and ultimately death, Johnson said.
“This extremely rare neurotoxin is found only in small amounts in wild dart frogs, and only when the frogs eat a special diet that the poison enters their bodies,” Jill said.
“The dart frog epibatidine does not occur naturally in Russia. There is no innocent explanation for its presence in Navalny’s body. It is deliberate that Russia carried out this despicable act,” Kapoor added.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Navalny was a courageous man. “His determination to expose the truth has left a great legacy,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also said his country paid tribute to Navalny. Noël said he was killed by the authorities while fighting for a democratic Russia.
Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalny, has accused her husband of being poisoned. "I was sure from day one that my husband was poisoned, but now it has been proven," she said. "I am grateful to the European countries and states for working so carefully over two years to uncover the truth," she added.
