Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Close dialogue1/1 Next image Previous image Toggle captionSkip to navigation Supporters of Alexei Navalny protesting outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on Monday. Photograph: Christian Mang/Reuters View image in fullscreen Supporters of Alexei Navalny protesting outside the Russian embassy in Berlin on Monday. Photograph: Christian Mang/Reuters AnalysisWas Navalny poisoning by frog toxin meant to send a message? Nicola Davis Science correspondentYvette Cooper may think so, and use of epibatidine may seem exotic, but experts say situation is more ambiguous It was a very particular choice of weapon, but experts say it remains unclear whether the dart frog toxin used to kill the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was intended to convey a message.Known as epibatidine, the poison is produced by wild dart frogs native to parts of South America – meaning Navalny could not have accidentally taken the poison.“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 government has stated.Epibatidine was certainly an efficient choice: it is a powerful painkiller thought to be hundreds of times more potent than morphine and can cause muscle paralysis.“Your chest wall doesn’t expand and contract, so essentially you can’t…
Published: February 16, 2026 5:33 pm
Source: The Guardian — Read original