Bellingcat has already exposed the Kremlin’s killer squads, uncovered poison attacks and identified the perpetrator in the case of the Berlin Tiergarten murder. Now the experts of the research network are certain: Roman Abramovich was the target of poisoning.
What happened on the night of March 3-4 in Kyiv? According to information from the US magazine “Wall Street Journal”, the research network Bellingcat and the Russian investigative medium “The Insider”, billionaire Roman Abramovich and two negotiators from the Ukrainian delegation, who had been conducting war negotiations with Russia, were poisoned that night.
“Abramovitch took part in the talks as a Ukrainian negotiator. Three of the six delegates spent the night in a Kiev apartment after the negotiations. And all three discovered symptoms of poisoning during the night,” reported journalist Roman Dobrokhotov. Everyone had complained about “itchy eyes and skin”. “Abramovitch could not see anything even for several hours.”
The symptoms were observed until the morning. At least one of the men had been examined by a doctor. The group would then have turned to Bellingcat, as the network has already solved poisoning cases in the past and has good contacts with experts in this field.
Experts agree on chloropicrin
Bellingcat is certain: Abramovich and the two Ukrainian delegates were poisoned. According to investigative journalist Christo Grozew, who led the research into the incident, a team of experts came to the conclusion that a chemical weapon was most likely used. “All the experts who have been in contact with those affected, who have looked at their photos and who have also examined them, agree that this is no coincidence, no food poisoning and no allergy,” he told Alexei Navalny’s comrades-in-arms created since the outbreak of war. Chloropicrine is the name of the chemical warfare agent that all experts thought possible.
Chlorpicrin belongs to the group of lung warfare agents. It was first used in various German cannons, howitzers and mortars during World War I. Chloropicrin causes skin blisters in humans and causes eye irritation and breathing difficulties. Pulmonary edema may also develop. Since the symptoms can be delayed by hours, the possible exposure time must be taken into account. The poisoning can lead to serious illness and death by suffocation.
“The only flaw in this theory is that chloropicrin has a very strong odor, so it’s difficult to get it into the body unnoticed,” Grozew said. However, there is also information that an odorless version of the warfare agent has been developed. Even a small dose of the neurotoxin Novichok can lead to such symptoms. “What it ended up being remains a mystery.” In order to fully clarify the incident, blood samples should have been examined in a laboratory that specializes in chemical weapons. But by the time those affected could have taken this step, it was already too late. “We may never know what it was.”
Kyiv and Moscow speak of “information war”
The Kremlin has described the reports of the possible poisoning as part of an “information war”. “This is part of an information campaign, part of information sabotage, this is part of an information war,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday. “These reports are definitely not true.”
The Ukrainian side has also rejected the reports and also spoke of an information war. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the members of his own delegation to exercise caution in the renewed peace negotiations with Russia in Turkey. Ukrainian media quoted Kuleba as saying on Tuesday: “Don’t drink, eat or touch any surfaces.”
For Grotsev it is obvious why the Ukrainian side denies the possibility of poisoning. “The Ukrainian government does not want such a case to become public. They do not want the negotiation process to come to a standstill.” This could be the reason for the statements by the US intelligence services that the whole thing was due to “environmental influences”. “This is similar to the Kremlin’s previous statements that Navalny had problems with glucose.”
Warning for Roman Abramovich or sabotage?
The Kremlin, for its part, denies the possibility because the first suspicion falls on Moscow. There are several variants as to why an attack on Abramovich would have been attempted. There are two main theories under discussion: Either the poisoning was intended as a warning. Abramovich’s role in the negotiations would amount to treason for Vladimir Putin. Or the hardliners within the Russian secret services would have acted without an order from the Kremlin. They might want to sabotage the peace process in this way, fearing that if Russia were to lose, they would become victims of purges.
Source: Stern
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