What We Know About the Frog Toxin That Killed Navalny
The Phantasmal poison frog, not generally found in Siberia. (Getty Images/slowmotiongli)
Investigators from five European countries say Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died after being poisoned with a rare toxin derived from frog species native to South America—far from the Siberian prison colony where he was held. The toxin, epibatidine, is found in frogs such as the Anthony’s poison arrow frog and the phantasmal poison frog.
According to the BBC, toxicologists describe epibatidine as an extremely potent neurotoxin—estimated to be about 200 times stronger than morphine. It acts on nicotinic receptors in the nervous system and can cause paralysis, seizures, respiratory failure, and death by suffocation.
Alastair Hay, professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, said the presence of the toxin in Navalny’s blood indicates “deliberate administration.”
Because epibatidine naturally occurs only in certain wild frogs, experts believe it was likely synthesized in a laboratory rather than extracted directly from animals. “The structure is known and it’s possible to synthesize it chemically, so you wouldn’t have to go to Ecuador looking for brightly colored frogs,” Hay told NBC News. He added that epibatidine poisoning is “an incredibly rare method of human poisoning,” with only a few known laboratory-related cases that were non-fatal.
Foreign ministries from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands said test results show Navalny was killed by the toxin and concluded that only Russia had the “means, motive, and opportunity.” Russian authorities maintain Navalny died of natural causes. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has long alleged he was killed and said Saturday that President Vladimir Putin is a murderer who “must be held accountable,” according to the Associated Press.
Epibatidine has been studied experimentally as a possible painkiller, but its extreme toxicity has prevented any clinical use.
Hay also said that if epibatidine was used to poison Navalny, it would violate both the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia is a signatory to both treaties, which prohibit the use of toxins as weapons.
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