'ONLY RUSSIA COULD DO IT'

THE Russian state had Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny killed in prison using a toxin from an Ecuadorian dart frog, the British government said yesterday.

- BY ALEXANDER BROWN Assistant Political Editor

Two years on from the death of the opposition leader and anti-corruption activist at a Siberian penal colony, the UK and its allies have pinned the blame on the Russian state following analysis of samples taken from his body.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the "barbaric" death - using a neurotoxin that is classed as a chemical weapon - could only have been carried out by Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

It is not clear how the frog poison, epibatidine, which is 200 times stronger than morphine, was allegedly administered.

Ms Cooper told the Munich Security Conference: “Since Yulia Navalnaya announced the loss of her husband here in Munich two years ago, the UK has pursued the truth of Alexei Navalny's death with fierce determination.

“Only the Russian Government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia.

“Today, beside his widow, the UK is shining a light on the Kremlin's barbaric plot to silence his voice. Russia saw Navalny as a threat.

“By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition.”