CLAIMS that Russia poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny are merely “propaganda,” insists Moscow.

Five European countries claimed on Saturday that Mr Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs.

The foreign ministries of France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Britain said analysis in European labs of samples taken from Mr Navalny’s body “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.”

The neurotoxin secreted by dart frogs in South America is not found naturally in Russia, they said.

A joint statement said: “Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison.”

The five countries said they were reporting Russia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

There was no immediate comment from the organisation.

But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Saturday dismissed the claims.

She said that “such assertions are merely propaganda aimed at diverting attention from pressing Western issues.”

Ms Zakharova pointed out that the timing of the allegations were being made “just as the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions was about to yield results, suddenly Navalny’s poisoning was brought into focus.”

She added: “When asked for Navalny’s test results, Western officials instead circulated sensational stories about the Skripals. This pattern continues unabated.”