As it turned out, a Russian opposition politician who had spoken out against the war in Ukraine was poisoned with a highly toxic substance.
Elvira Vikhareva, 32, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, shared tests with Russian news channel Sota that showed she had traces of potassium dichromate in her blood.
Ms Vikhareva said she was unwell in November last year, with symptoms including hair loss, muscle spasms and severe abdominal pain that lasted until February 2023.
It comes after a number of Moscow’s critics were poisoned in recent years – the most prominent being Russia’s de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who almost died after FSB agents smeared Novichok on his underwear in August 2020.
She told TV Rain she did not ask the police for help because it was clear that anyone in Russia with an “anti-war position” would quickly become “enemy number one”.
Elvira Vikhareva (pictured), 32, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, shared tests with Russian news channel Sota that showed she had traces of potassium dichromate in her blood
It comes after a number of Moscow’s critics were poisoned in recent years – the most prominent being Russia’s de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who nearly died after FSB agents smeared Novichok on his underwear in August 2020. Pictured: Mr. Navalny, who is now in a Russian penal colony prison
Ms Vikhareva said: “When the test results came back, the only sentence that could be heard was, ‘How did you survive?’
“I have no guesses, but if a person has an anti-war position and is in Russia and can voice their thoughts clearly about what is going on in Russia and Ukraine, then they are enemy number one.”
She said she did not ask the police for help as it would be like going to a “fucking executioner”.
“I survived and I want my survival to grieve those responsible for it,” she added.
Potassium dichromate, a compound used in wood treatment and photography, can damage organs and cause cancer, infertility and respiratory problems. It is harmful in contact with skin.
Miss Vikhareva regularly hosts political shows on YouTube, which can still be accessed in Russia, but stopped showing her face on camera because the poisoning had taken a “bite on her looks”.
She said on social media her body had started “giving up” and she needed constant visits from doctors.
But she has since recovered, although the poisoning has left her with shaking hands, falling eyelashes and nails that “look like they were hit by a train”.
Ms Vikhareva – who worked on election campaigns for Dmitry Gudkov, an exiled opposition politician – ran for the Duma in 2021 but lost to a pro-Kremlin candidate who faced widespread allegations of electoral fraud.
The Kremlin has long been accused of poisoning its opponents and exiled dissidents.
The Kremlin has long been accused of poisoning its opponents and exiled dissidents
Bellingcat, a group of investigative journalists, uncovered evidence that Russian agents poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Mr Navalny was taken to a German hospital on a plane after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight in August 2020.
He recovered and returned to Russia, where he was convicted and convicted of contempt-of-charge fraud, which he described as “politically motivated.”
Former KGB agent-turned-opposition activist Alexander Litvinenko died after being poisoned with polonium-210 in London in 2006.
In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights found the Kremlin responsible for Mr Litvinenko’s death.
A public inquiry in the UK also found that he was killed in an operation by Russia’s Federal Security Service that was “likely” sanctioned by Putin.
The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s death.
Mr Navalny was taken to a German hospital on a plane after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight in August 2020.
Former KGB agent-turned-opposition activist Alexander Litvinenko died after being poisoned with polonium-210 in London in 2006