Alexei Navalny died after being poisoned with dart frog toxin, UK and allies say

Source: Sky News

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison in Russia after being poisoned with a deadly toxin found on the skin of Ecuadorian dart frogs, the UK and other allies have revealed. The "barbaric" act - using a neurotoxin that is classed as a chemical weapon - could only have been carried out by Vladimir Putin's government, they said on Saturday.

The poisoning "highly likely" resulted in Mr Navalny's death. It is not clear how the frog poison - called epibatidine - was allegedly administered to the dissident, who had been in a penal colony in Siberia when he died almost exactly two years ago.

Indigenous tribes in South America are said to use the toxin in blow darts or blowguns when they hunt. The poison - described as "one of the deadliest on earth" - is 200 times stronger than morphine. It causes paralysis, breathing difficulties and death.

Yulia Navalnaya, the Russian dissident's widow, appeared at a press conference on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich to announce the discovery, flanked by the foreign ministers of the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/navalny-died-after-being-poisoned-with-dart-frog-toxin-13507402