Poison That Killed Aleksei Navalny Traced to SC Signal and GosNIIOKhT

Investigations reveal the neurotoxin epibatidine used in Navalny’s February 2024 death was produced at SC Signal and transferred to GosNIIOKhT for further research

Poison That Killed Aleksei Navalny Linked to Russian Laboratories – The poison responsible for Aleksei Navalny’s death on February 16, 2024, was reportedly produced at the Moscow laboratory SC Signal, which had also been linked to the 2020 poisoning attack that Navalny survived. European intelligence sources identified the substance as epibatidine, a neurotoxin naturally found on the skin of an Ecuadorian frog.

Investigative reporting by Agentsvo uncovered a 2015 scientific paper in the Russian Bulletin of Chemistry detailing a method for synthesizing epibatidine. The seven authors of the study are listed as researchers at the High Technology Laboratory LLC, but six of them—Igor Babkin, Sergey Galan, Georgy Nazarov, Alexey Aksyonov, Olga Yudina, and laboratory director Aleksey Lamanov—worked at SC Signal. The seventh author, Colonel Mikhail Gutsalyuk, directs a research department at a military academy in Kostroma.

Transfer to GosNIIOKhT and Connection to Chemical Weapons

Agentsvo also obtained a 2013–2014 study from the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT), co-signed by director Vladimir Kondratyev, a recognized chemical weapons specialist. According to The Insider, Kondratyev officially researched epibatidine for potential analgesic use, but the work also involved methods to detect the neurotoxin. SC Signal scientists, particularly Galan and Babkin, produced the substance but, due to insufficient facilities for preclinical testing, transferred the research to GosNIIOKhT.

Both SC Signal and GosNIIOKhT were previously implicated in Navalny’s 2020 Novichok poisoning. Phone records show Kondratyev frequently communicated with SC Signal director Artur Zhirov, who personally synthesized the Novichok dose used on Navalny that summer.

Scientific Expertise and Previous Research

Babkin co-authored a patent for the 27th Scientific Research Center of the Russian Defense Ministry, describing a method to produce kappa-opioid agonists similar to agents used by Russian forces during the 2022 Moscow Dubrovka Theater incident. Galan and Nazarov are experts in nano-encapsulation, a technique believed to stabilize Novichok, while Aksyonov specializes in extracting compounds from exotic plants. These findings reinforce the connections between SC Signal, GosNIIOKhT, and the development of lethal neurotoxic agents.

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