Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the statement by five European countries “false” claiming that opposition leader Alexei Navalny died after being poisoned by a poisonous frog toxin.
In an interview with several Russian media, Zaharova said that Western countries are trying to divert attention from their internal problems.
“There will be test results, there will be substance formulas – then there will be comments,” she said.
“Without this, all statements and talks are false, aimed at diverting attention from the pressing problems of the West.”
The spokeswoman pointed out that the news appeared “at a time when it would be necessary to present the results of the investigation into the explosion of the North Stream gas pipeline”.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022 was an unprecedented attack that caused extensive damage to the infrastructure connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea.
Serhii Kuznietsov, a former Ukrainian army officer accused of involvement in sabotage, was arrested in Italy. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly denied any involvement.
On Saturday, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and France issued a joint statement claiming that Navalny was poisoned with epibatidine, a poison extracted from the skin of an Ecuadorian poisonous frog.
The conclusion was reached based on the analysis of samples of Navalny’s biological material, according to the statement.
Moscow announced Navalny’s death in a Siberian prison in February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.
