Russia Killed Alexei Navalny with Frog Toxin, UK and Four European Allies Say

THE GUARDIAN: Intelligence agencies say deadly toxin in skin of Ecuador dart frogs found in Navalny’s body and highly likely resulted in his death

Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found, according to a statement released by five countries, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The US was not one of the intelligence agencies making the claim.

Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Samples from his body were secured before his burial and sent to the laboratories of two countries. » | Patrick Wintour in Munich | Saturday, February 14, 2026

Navalny death: World Leaders React to News, Condemn Putin

Feb 16, 2024

Die Suche nach seiner Leiche: Viele Russen trauern um den Oppositionspolitiker. Dessen Leichnam wird nicht herausgegeben. Verräterische Spuren könnten durch den Zeitverlust verloren gehen. »

Alexeï Navalny : ce que l’on sait deux jours après la mort en prison de l’opposant russe : Les enquêteurs ont affirmé à un avocat de l’opposant russe que la cause de sa mort n’a toujours pas été établie. Ses proches accusent les autorités de « mentir » pour conserver sa dépouille, toujours introuvable. »

‘American Idiot’: Joy Rips Trump and Tucker Carlson's Putin Support amid Navalny Death

Feb 17, 2024 | Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who survived a poisoning he attributed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has died in a Russian prison. Joy Reid honors this Russian patriot and condemns Donald Trump and the Republicans who apparently support Putin.

How Will Russia Remember Alexei Navalny?

Feb 16, 2024 | The prominent Russian opposition activist has died in prison aged 47. A tireless political organiser, he had personally angered Vladimir Putin, along with the president's closest allies, with his scathing investigations into government corruption. The Guardian's Andrew Roth looks at Navalny's rise in politics, his legacy and how his death robs Russia’s beleaguered opposition of one of its most dynamic leaders.

Western leaders point finger at Putin after Alexei Navalny’s death in jail: Russian opposition leader’s death described as political assassination attributable to president »

Alexei Navalny Reported Dead: General Petraeus Reacts

Feb 16, 2024 | “In a way I’m surprised that he lived as long as he did.” General Petraeus reacts to reports of the “tragic” death of Putin’s main opposition leader Alexi Navalny on Times Radio.

Related video, article and material here.

Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Has Died, Russian Media Report | BBC News | BBC News

Feb 16, 2024 | Russia's most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, has died in prison inside the Arctic Circle, Russian news agencies report, quoting the prison service.

Seen as President Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critic, Navalny was serving a 19-year jail term for offences widely considered politically motivated. He was moved to an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the toughest jails, late last year.

The prison service in the Yamalo-Nenets district said he had "felt unwell" after a walk on Friday. He had "almost immediately lost consciousness", it said in a statement. The causes of his death were being established, Tass news agency reported.


Related articles/material in German, French here.

L’opposant russe Alexeï Navalny condamné à dix-neuf ans de prison supplémentaires à l’issue d’un procès pour « extrémisme »

LE MONDE : Le procès s’étant déroulé à huis clos, aucun journaliste n’a pu assister aux audiences. M. Navalny est détenu depuis juin 2022 dans une colonie pénitentiaire après s’être vu infliger neuf ans de prison pour « fraude », dans une autre affaire qu’il dénonce comme étant une vengeance politique.

Alexeï Navalny, le principal opposant au Kremlin, déjà emprisonné et régulièrement puni dans sa colonie pénitentiaire, a été condamné à dix-neuf ans de prison supplémentaires à l’issue d’un procès pour « extrémisme », vendredi 4 août, a annoncé sa porte-parole Kira Iarmych.

Dans cette nouvelle affaire où il était question de « réhabilitation du nazisme », le parquet avait requis vingt ans d’emprisonnement pour cet opposant de longue date à Vladimir Poutine et infatigable militant anticorruption. Le charismatique militant de 47 ans est détenu depuis juin 2022 dans la colonie pénitentiaire IK-6 à Melekhovo, à 250 kilomètres à l’est de Moscou, après s’être vu infliger neuf ans de prison pour « fraude », dans une autre affaire qu’il dénonce comme étant une vengeance politique. Les audiences se sont exceptionnellement déplacées dans la prison de l’opposant, procédure d’habitude réservée aux prévenus gravement malades, et se sont déroulées à huis clos, excluant ainsi les journalistes qui désiraient y assister. » | Le Monde avec AFP | vendredi 4 août 2023

Russian court sentences Alexei Navalny to further 19 years in prison: Opposition critic decries extended jail term as ‘Stalinist’ and calls on Russians to resist Putin regime »

Russischer Oppositioneller Nawalny zu 19 Jahren Haft verurteilt: Ein Moskauer Gericht hat den prominenten Putin-Kritiker Alexej Nawalny zu einer weiteren Haftstrafe verurteilt. Kritiker hielten den Prozess für inszeniert. »

Russian Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Convicted of Fraud, Facing up to a 13-year Prison Sentence

Mar 22, 2022 • Longtime Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been found guilty of fraud and embezzlement charges, as well as contempt of court, according to a verdict handed down on Tuesday. He faces up to a 13-year prison sentence. Navalny and his supporters have decried the charges as politically motivated. Navalny is already serving a two-and-a-half year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up to thwart his attempts to run for office. Both Navalny and rights groups have said he has been tortured in prison.

Who is Alexei Navalny?

Frustrated with the corruption in the Russian government, Navalny co-founded the Russia of the Future party nearly a decade ago to oppose President Vladimir Putin's United Russia. He amassed a major following on social media, and has been arrested multiple times during anti-government protests. In August 2020, Navalny was the target of suspected assassination attempt when he was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent. He spent a month recovering in a Berlin hospital. Since his arrest, many of his closest allies have left Russia after facing multiple criminal charges. His Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of nearly 40 regional offices were outlawed as "extremist" and Navalny has been added to an official list of terrorists.

Alexei Navalny Faces 15 More Years in Prison as New Trial Starts

THE GUARDIAN: Russian opposition leader in new trial at penal colony far from support base on charge of embezzlement

Alexei Navalny (centre) is seen on a monitor during a court session in the IK-2 penal colony in Vladimir region, Russia. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPA
Russia could extend Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment for up to a further 15 years in a fresh criminal trial that his supporters warn has been overshadowed by the crisis in Ukraine.

The Russian opposition leader is accused of embezzling donations to his FBK anti-corruption organisation, which has accused Vladimir Putin of owning a £1bn mansion and other top officials enriching themselves through corrupt schemes.

Navalny has denied the charges and calls them politically motivated.

The new trial for embezzlement began on Tuesday inside the IK-2 penal colony in Vladimir, an unusual setting three or four hours’ drive east of Moscow, that severely limits the ability of supporters and observers to attend the hearings. » | Andrew Roth in Moscow | Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Alexei Navalny Moved to Hospital as Fears Grow for Life of Putin Critic

THE GUARDIAN: Doctors say opposition leader, who is on hunger strike, is in danger of a heart attack or kidney failure

Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a prison hospital as concerns have grown among supporters that the Russian opposition leader is dangerously ill and could die “at any minute”.

Navalny’s transfer came after his doctors warned at the weekend that the Kremlin critic, who has been on hunger strike for nearly three weeks, was in danger of a heart attack or kidney failure.

In a statement on Monday, Russia’s prisons service said a doctors’ committee had decided to transfer Navalny to an infirmary in another prison in the Vladimir region that “specialises in dynamic monitoring of similar patients”. » | Andrew Roth in Moscow | Monday, April 19, 2021

Alexei Navalny 'Seriously Ill' on Prison Sick Ward, Says Lawyer

THE GUARDIAN: Russian opposition figure has fever, cough and has lost weight, according to legal team member who visited him

Alexei Navalny’s lawyer has confirmed that the opposition leader is “seriously ill” after reports emerged that he had been transferred to a prison sick ward for a respiratory illness and had been tested for coronavirus.

The Kremlin critic said in a note published on Monday that he was coughing and had a temperature of 38.1C (100.6F). Several prisoners from his ward had already been treated in hospital for tuberculosis, Navalny wrote. Hours later, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported he had been moved to a sick ward and tested for coronavirus, among other diseases.

On Tuesday, Russian police arrested several Navalny supporters who had travelled to the prison 60 miles east of Moscow to petition for him to receive proper medical care. Anastasia Vasilyeva, the head of the Russian Doctors’ Alliance, along with three other members of the renegade medical union were arrested. Reporters for CNN and for Belsat, a Russian-language television channel based in Poland, were also briefly detained. » | Andrew Roth in Moscow | Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Alexei Navalny Moved to ‘Concentration Camp’ Known for Strict Control

THE GUARDIAN: Kremlin critic reveals on Instagram he has arrived in penal colony north-east of Moscow and has a ‘freshly shaven head’

The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is being held in a prison camp in the Vladimir region of Russia north-east of Moscow known for its strict control of inmates, a message posted on the opposition politician’s Instagram account confirmed on Monday. » | Staff and agencies in Moscow | Monday, March 15, 2021

Russie : plus de 4 400 arrestations lors d’une nouvelle journée de manifestations à l’appel de l’opposant Navalny

LE MONDE: Des rassemblements ont notamment eu lieu à Moscou, Saint-Pétersbourg et Iekaterinbourg. Selon l’Union des journalistes russes, au moins 35 professionnels de la presse ont été arrêtés.

Malgré la pression croissante des autorités russes, qui ont multiplié les mises en garde et les procédures judiciaires, les partisans d’Alexeï Navalny manifestaient, dimanche 31 janvier, lors d’une nouvelle journée de mobilisation pour appeler à la libération de l’opposant emprisonné. La police russe a déployé un important dispositif et fermé l’accès au centre de plusieurs villes pour empêcher les protestataires de participer à ces réunions non autorisées.

D’après l’organisation OVD-Info, spécialisée dans le suivi des manifestations, au moins 4 407 personnes ont été interpellées dans 85 villes, principalement à Moscou (1 357) et Saint-Pétersbourg (950). Selon l’Union des journalistes russes, au moins 35 professionnels de la presse ont été arrêtés. » | Le Monde avec AFP | dimanche 31 janvier 2021

How Big a Threat Is Navalny to Putin's Power? | DW News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been coming under unusual pressure. A billion-dollar palace allegedly paid for illegally has been making global headlines, while young Russians flood TikTok with calls for protests. Thousands hit the streets in some of the most widespread demonstrations in years. And the president himself faced the public to deny accusations of stolen wealth. Much of the agitation was sparked by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, now watching from prison.

With parliamentary elections looming, does Navalny pose a growing threat to President Putin's rule?

From the 60 Minutes Archives: Alexey Navalny

n 2017, Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny told 60 Minutes he was willing to risk his life for the cause, "I think I'm ready to sacrifice everything for my job."

Tens of thousands protest in Russia calling for Navalny's release »

'We're At the Point Where We Should Sanction Putin', Tory MP Says | LBC

Tom Tugendhat told LBC sanctions should be used "more actively" to help target individuals who have been "part of Putin's mafia regime".

Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale Tom Tugendhat, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and Conservative MP for Tonbridge and Malling, said it was time to start sanctioning President Putin.

Earlier President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has brushed off allegations that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning the Russian leader's most determined critic, Alexei Navalny. But Mr Tugendhat told LBC that he thinks the UK should be "stiffer with the sanctions" that are in place.

Referencing the Magnitsky Act the Tory MP said sanctions should be used "more actively" to help target individuals who have been "part of Putin's mafia regime".

Angela Merkel: 'Unequivocal Proof' Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned with Novichok

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said in a personal statement that testing by a special military laboratory had shown proof that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a novichok nerve agent. 'It is now clear: Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime,' Merkel said. 'He was meant to be silenced. This raises very difficult questions that only the Russian government can answer, and has to answer.' Alexei Navalny poisoned with novichok, says German government

Putin Critic Alexei Navalny Fights for His Life Following Suspected Poisoning

Russia's most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in a coma after a suspected poisoning.

The 44-year-old was taken off a flight to Moscow by stretcher and is now on a ventilator, unconscious "in a grave condition" in intensive care in the city of Omsk, according to his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he was "deeply concerned" about the reported poisoning, adding: "My thoughts are with him and his family."