Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny poisoned by a rare toxin: the Kremlin rejects the conclusions of the European investigation

Of course, no other reaction was to be expected. The Kremlin on Monday judged “unfounded” the conclusions of a European investigation affirming that the opponent Alexeï Navalny, who died in detention in Russia two years ago, had succumbed to poisoning from a rare toxin.

The United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, published the results of biological investigations showing that the fiercest opponent of Vladimir Putin had been “poisoned” in his Arctic prison using an extremely rare toxin taken from an Ecuadorian frog, a toxin called epibatidine and that “only the Russian state had the means, the motive and the opportunity” to use.

“My son was murdered”

“It’s very negative. Naturally we do not accept such accusations. We do not accept them, we consider them biased and unfounded,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov reacted Monday during his daily briefing.

Earlier in the morning, the opponent’s mother demanded “justice” for her son, speaking near his grave, where several dozen people gathered for the second anniversary of his death, despite the risks. “This confirms what we knew all along. We knew that our son did not just die in prison, he was murdered,” Lyudmila Navalnaya said from Moscow’s Borissovskoye cemetery.

“I think it will take a while, and we will find out who did it.” (…) Of course, we want this to happen in our country and for justice to triumph,” she added, speaking to journalists, including those from AFP.

Several dozen people marched Monday morning to the opponent’s grave, covered with hundreds of flowers. A religious ceremony also took place. Among the people who came to pray, some wore surgical masks hiding their faces.

In Russia, authorities have banned organizations created by Alexei Navalny for “extremism” and “terrorism” and any public support for his movement is subject to legal prosecution.

Moscow has always claimed that Navalny died suddenly after a walk in his penal colony.