According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich initiated a mediation attempt between Russia and Ukraine and was apparently poisoned in the process. According to the newspaper report, both Abramovich and two of the Ukrainian negotiators involved suffered symptoms of poisoning after the meeting in Kiev in early March. The Wall Street Journal cites several sources for the events. The report has not yet been verified.
According to the dpa news agency, participants in the overnight negotiations in Ukraine contradicted this description. All members of the negotiating groups would work normally, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podoliak said on Monday. “In the information sector there is currently a lot of speculation, different versions of conspiracies and elements of one or another information game.”
Intelligence information indicated with a high degree of probability that it was due to environmental influences, not poisoning, a US official also said. He declined to comment on details.
Ukraine War: Roman Abramovich Poisoning Unproven
Rustem Umyerov, who was mentioned as a victim in the Wall Street Journal, wrote on Facebook that morning that he was all right. “I’m doing fine. This is my answer to all the gossip that’s been spreading. Please don’t trust any unverified information. We’re also in an information war.”
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The Bellingcat research team, on the other hand, said it could confirm that three members of the delegation involved in the peace talks on the night of March 4, 2022 had symptoms similar to chemical weapons poisoning.
Abramovich is one of those Russian oligarchs who are on Western sanctions lists and is also known in the West as the previous owner of British football club Chelsea FC. After the mediation mission in Kiev, during which he apparently also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he developed symptoms such as red eyes and skin disorders, the paper writes. These indicated poisoning.
Possible Poison Attack on Abramovich: Moscow Radicals as Perpetrators?
The Journal cites several sources close to the conversations, who assume the participants were poisoned. It is not yet known who is behind the possible poisoning. According to the WSJ, people close to Abramovich declined to express any suspicion. Other sources apparently locate the culprit in “Moscow hard-line circles”.
Abramovich is said to have conducted the actual mediation negotiations not with Selensky, but with a group led by Crimean deputy Umerov. New negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to start in Turkey on Tuesday.
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