Has Russia used poison to try to intimidate participants in peace efforts in Ukraine? This is the question that arises since the Wall Street Journal revealed on Monday that Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators showed symptoms of possible poisoning in March after a meeting in kyiv.
According to the American daily, the oligarch, who is trying to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to end the war, and at least two members of the Ukrainian negotiating team suffered from redness and irritation in the eyes as well as skin problems on the face and hands. The Bellingcat site, which also carried out the investigation and should soon publish the results of its investigation, claimed on Twitter that “all three men had only consumed chocolate and water in the hours before the onset of symptoms”.
If their state of health has since improved, these revelations raise questions. “Someone, it seems, wanted to send a warning to people taking part in the peace talks ”believes Frank Gardner, the journalist in charge of security issues at the BBC. It was not a lethal dose, it was a warning.”
The shadow of the Kremlin, “a plausible lead”
According to Wall Street Journalsome of those familiar with the matter blamed the alleged attack on “Hardliners in Moscow” estimating that “the latter sought to sabotage the peace negotiations to end the war”. For the Moscow Times, “these revelations risk upsetting the peace process, already marked by deep disagreements”.
“Can we be sure that [les négociateurs] were poisoned? ”wonders however the Guardian. “Not really: the three men were too busy to be able to have samples analyzed in time by German toxicologists. […] The truth may therefore never be known. But the Kremlin has enough experience with poisonings to make that a plausible lead.”underlines the British daily.
Asked by BuzzFeed Newsthe American toxicologist Alvin Terry, believes that “vapors from industrial solvents or cleaning products” could be in question. “In the event that a chemical weapon was used, the symptoms that have been described could be related to low levels of exposure to sulfur mustard gas”he added.