New Lab Findings Indicate Poisoning of Alexei Navalny Prior to His Sudden Death, Claims Widow

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, stated on Wednesday that two independent medical laboratory analyses indicate her husband was poisoned prior to his death in an Arctic penal colony last year.

Navalny, well-known for his incisive anti-corruption investigations and strong opposition to President Vladimir Putin, passed away unexpectedly in February 2024. Russian authorities have refused to look into the circumstances surrounding his death, which not only eliminated the opposition’s most appealing figure but also exacerbated divisions within his Anti-Corruption Foundation.

In a video statement, Navalnaya revealed that her husband’s biological samples were taken last February and subsequently “safely smuggled overseas.”

She mentioned that laboratories in two different nations have independently determined that Navalny was poisoned. However, Navalnaya did not disclose the countries where these tests were performed or the specific toxic substance implicated in her husband’s death.

The Moscow Times has not been able to independently validate her assertions.

Navalnaya suggested that the lab analyses could have taken place in Europe or North America, as she criticized “Western nations” for their reluctance to investigate her husband’s death due to political and legal reasons.

“I urge the laboratories that conducted these tests to make their findings public,” she emphasized. “These findings hold significant public interest and need to be shared. We all have the right to know the truth.”

Last year, independent Russian media reported that investigators collected 75 items from the site of Navalny’s passing, including “vomit samples,” and later redacted references to potential poisoning in correspondence sent to Navalnaya.

Navalny narrowly escaped death in 2020 when he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in Siberia, a fact confirmed by laboratories in Germany, France, and Sweden operating under the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

He was detained in 2021 upon returning to Russia after receiving treatment in Germany.

Following his imprisonment and subsequent death, both Brussels and Washington enacted sanctions targeting senior Russian officials.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny’s demise, while U.S. intelligence assessments have suggested that Putin “probably” did not personally instruct that he be killed.