Europe is discussing how to live in a world that the United States is destroying. The main test of strength is further support for Ukraine Bilateral meeting at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13. Photo: Sean Gallup/EPA An unprecedentedly busy diplomatic week in Europe ended with the Munich Security Conference, showing that the “old continent” has come to terms with the idea that the United States can no longer always be relied upon for everything.

The main building of GosNIIOKhT on Entuziastov Highway in Moscow One of the authors of articles published in the Russian Federation about epibatidine is the former head of GosNIIOKhT Vladimir Kondratyev. In the 2000s, he was the deputy head of the chemical troops (radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian Armed Forces) for weapons and research work.

In 2013, a group of authors from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT) published a scientific article on an effective method for the synthesis of epibatidine, a poison that, as it turned out today, most likely killed Alexei Navalny. Radio Liberty investigative journalist Sergei Dobrynin drew attention to this.

“Terrible News” - with Kirill Martynov Every Saturday, Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, comments on the most important news that happened in Russia and the world over the past week. New details of Navalny’s poisoning: what poison was used to kill the politician? Telegram slowdown: how did a variety of forces unite against this background? And what new blocking methods did Roskomnadzor begin to use?

Alexey Navalny. Photo: Yulia Navalnaya Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny was very likely killed using the poison epibatidine, according to multiple European laboratories that analysed biomaterial taken from his body after his death, independent investigative outlet The Insider reported on Saturday.

This was confirmed by five European countries Laboratories from the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands were able to analyze samples of Alexei Navalny’s biomaterials taken from the Russian Federation after his murder. They found epibatidine, a super-toxic poison extracted from the skin of a South American frog. This was first reported by The Insider without citing a source.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the 62nd Munich Security Conference, 14 February 2026. Photo: EPA / RONALD WITTEK Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday, reminding delegates that his country required continuing support from its Western allies to defend itself against Russian forces after almost four full years of full-scale war.

Today Anna German would have turned 90 years old. Her life path was more complex and dramatic than the image of a lyrical singer familiar to the public. Illustration: New Newspaper Europe Every year, Valentine's Day looks more and more like a marketing ritual. But by an interesting coincidence, February 14 is also the birthday of a woman for whom love was not a decoration or a metaphor. Exactly 90 years ago on this day, Anna German was born.

The aftermath of an overnight Russian airstrike on a residential area of Odesa, southern Ukraine, 13 February 2026. Photo: EPA / Igor Maslov An elderly woman was killed in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Saturday, as Russia subjected the city and surrounding region to another barrage of drone strikes overnight on Friday.

The winner in men's single figure skating at the 2026 Olympics was sensationally won by the representative of Kazakhstan, Mikhail Shaydorov. The BBC writes about this. Photo: EPA Of the six finalists, five fell during the free skate. Shaidorov was the only one who performed cleanly and won his country's first gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 32 years. “Russian American” Ilya Malinin was considered the undisputed favorite, but performed unsuccessfully and ultimately took only eighth place.

The Investigative Committee refused to open a case regarding the beating of Buryatia native Maria Tsydenova by police officers. She reported this on her Telegram channel. The woman said that she categorically disagreed with the decision and would appeal it in accordance with the procedure established by law. In her opinion, time was deliberately delayed “in the hope that public outrage would subside and the topic would lose relevance”: “I will never forget the humiliation that I had to endure.

Hieromonk Jacob Vorontsov, who opposed the war and created an Orthodox Church independent of the Russian Orthodox Church, was arrested in Almaty. Why is the official version not credible? Jacob Vorontsov. Photo from Vorontsov's Facebook page Hieromonk Jacob (Vorontsov), “defrocked” by the Russian Orthodox Church for his anti-war position, was arrested in Almaty early in the morning on Friday the 13th.

The largest pre-trial detention center in Russia will be built in the Moscow region. Relieving overcrowded detention centers or counting on an increase in arrests? Corridor of the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) “Kresty-2” during construction, St. Petersburg, October 17, 2014. Photo: Alexander Demyanchuk / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA In the Solnechnogorsk urban district of the Moscow region, in 2026 they will begin to build the largest pre-trial detention center in Russia, with 4,000 beds.