Russia rejects opposition figure poisoning allegations as “biased, unfounded”

Kremlin spokespersoon, Dmitry Peskov, has dismissed as biased and unfounded the recent statements from five countries alleging the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and implicating Russia in the incident.

“A very negative reaction. We consider such statements biased and completely unfounded. We categorically reject them,” Peskov said, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands claimed that laboratory analyses of biological samples from Alexei Navalny, founder of Anti‑Corruption Foundation (FBK), reportedly detected epibatidine, a toxic substance derived from the skin of South American poison dart frogs.

In a joint statement published on the official websites of the UK and Swedish governments, the five countries asserted that epibatidine “most likely caused a lethal outcome.”

Responding to the allegations, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told local media that claims of Navalny’s poisoning constitute “an information provocation.”

Two years on from the death of Navalny at a Siberian penal colony, Britain and its allies have blamed the Kremlin following analysis of material samples found on his body.

Speaking from the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said "only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity" to use the poison while Navalny was imprisoned in Russia.

By Vafa Guliyeva