The incident came after a meeting in the Ukrainian capital this month, when the billionaire owner of the English soccer club Chelsea and at least two senior officials from the Ukrainian negotiating team “developed symptoms.”
The investigation into the poisoning was carried out by journalist Christo Grozev, who works at the German portal Bellingcat. “They did not have the intention to kill, it was just a warning,” Grozev said.
The symptoms described, including red and watery eyes, peeling of the face and hands, later improved “and their lives are not in danger,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper’s sources spoke of possible poisoning and suspected hardliners in Moscow who they say want to sabotage talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
“It was during his first trip to kyiv. Roman lost his sight for several hours. In Turkey they treated him and Rustem at a clinic,” said a source quoted by ‘The Guardian’.
A relative of Roman Abramovich, however, said for his part that he was not sure of the identity of those who would have targeted the group, specifies the Wall Street Journal, also stating that Western experts could not determine the cause of the symptoms.
The newspaper confirms in any case that the Russian oligarch, considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and already subject to sanctions by the European Union and the United Kingdom after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, began traveling between Moscow and Ukraine as part of mediation to end the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on Sunday that a number of Russian businessmen, including Abramovich, had offered to help Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal revealed last week that the Ukrainian president had asked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, not to sanction Abramovich, arguing that he could play a role in Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations.
And, in fact, the billionaire’s name does not appear at this time on the list of oligarchs sanctioned by Washington, expanded several times since the Russian offensive launched on February 24, the last one last Thursday.
Abramovich’s health condition eventually improved and he returned to kyiv to participate in the next round of negotiations. The fourth round of informal contacts between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations begins in Istanbul on Tuesday.
Source: Ambito
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