Russia’s Alleged Use of Chemical Weapon To Murder Alexei Navalny Shows Cost of Impunity

Five European countries have accused Russia of using a lethal chemical weapon to murder the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The joint statement issued on February 14 by the UK, France, Sweden, Germany, and The Netherlands followed laboratory analysis conducted by those states of biomedical samples taken from Navalny after his sudden death two years earlier in an Arctic penal colony. Testing concluded that Russia employed the neurotoxin epibatidine, derived from the poisonous skin of Ecuadorian dart frogs. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the findings as “troubling” and said the United States had no reason to dispute them.

Russia, as a party to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), has faced no meaningful penalties or accountability through the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the body tasked with enforcing the CWC. This inaction persists despite the OPCW’s prior findings of an ongoing Russian chemical weapons program and Moscow’s repeated use of such weapons.

The European assessment — apparently persuasive to Washington, given  Rubio’s comment on the findings — could trigger a 60-day obligation under U.S. law for the United States to issue its own determination and impose new sanctions on Russia.  

Russia’s Prior Use of Chemical Weapons

The CWC defines chemical weapons in part as “toxic chemicals and their precursors.” Toxic chemicals include “any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals.” If such chemicals are used for anything other than “purposes not prohibited” under the convention — for example, assassination or terrorism — they qualify as the use of chemical weapons. This broad definition encompasses all chemicals, regardless of origin or method of production. It includes naturally occurring toxins like epibatidine, which in high doses can cause respiratory paralysis, seizures, and death.

The OPCW has previously confirmed Russia’s use of prohibited chemical agents in multiple incidents. It verified the presence of a Novichok-class nerve agent following Moscow’s deployment of the substance against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018 as well as in the failed assassination attempt on Navalny in 2020. More recently, the OPCW has gathered evidence of Russia’s possible use of choking agents and riot-control agents against Ukrainian forces, which Ukraine alleges has occurred on thousands of occasions. The United States currently assesses that Russia maintains an undeclared chemical weapons program.

Action Needed To Hold Russia Accountable

To date, OPCW member states have only addressed Russia’s undeclared chemical weapons program and use of such weapons by making diplomatic statements, sidelining Russia from co-chairing the OPCW’s policy-making body, the Executive Council, and requesting formal clarification from Moscow — an accountability measure available under the CWC. They have not yet initiated a formal OPCW investigation or pursued other enforcement mechanisms provided by the convention to penalize Moscow.

The five European countries that accused Russia of chemical weapons use should request an OPCW technical assistance visit to verify their claims. At the next OPCW Executive Council meeting, scheduled for March 10-13,  in The Hague, the United States and its OPCW partners should push for an OPCW investigation in Russia — not only to investigate the circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death but also to ascertain the extent of Russia’s noncompliance with the CWC, including inspections at suspect chemical weapons facilities. If Russia fails to comply or refuses OPCW access, OPCW members should suspend Moscow’s voting rights and privileges and enact collective penalties.

For its part, having accepted the European finding as credible, the United States — under the U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 — may need to issue its own determination within 60 days, impose new sanctions on Russia, and report to Congress. Separately, Congress should press the administration to comply promptly and fully with the law’s requirements.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea on X @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.