Feb 16, 2026, 11:59Feb 16, 2026, 11:59
The Kremlin “firmly” rejects allegations of the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a prison camp two years ago.
“Of course we do not accept such accusations, we do not agree with them, we consider them biased and unfounded,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. According to Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Navalny is said to have been killed with poison from a poison dart frog.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, many people, including Navalny’s mother, are visiting the grave of the critic of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who was tortured to death in a prison camp two years ago. Today marks the second anniversary of the death – many people have been coming to the Borisovskoye cemetery in the Russian capital since the morning despite the snowstorm.
Russia said the death was of natural causes
Yulia Navalnaya, the politician’s widow, lives in exile abroad and accuses Putin of murder. On Saturday, she and Wadephul announced laboratory results on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, according to which her husband was killed with a nerve agent. Wadephul expressed shock. Only the Russian state had the means and the opportunity to poison the opposition activist, he said.
Russian authorities claim that Navalny died of natural causes. They had not released his body for days, despite requests from Navalny’s mother. It was therefore feared that any traces of poison might no longer be detectable. It is unclear how Navalny’s tissue samples ended up in the West. (sda/dpa)