Roman Abramovich was poisoned with the World War I chemical warfare agent chloropicrin or a low dose of novichok, experts said.
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, who led research into the shocking incident, said a team of experts agreed the war chemical was most likely used in the premeditated attack.
Abramovich’s other peace negotiators suffered from debilitating symptoms, including temporary blindness, when they left for Kyiv on a mission in early March to seek an end to the war.
Roman Abramovich was poisoned with the World War I chemical warfare agent chloropicrin or a low dose of novichok, experts said (pictured during talks in Turkey yesterday).
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev (left), who led research into the shocking incident, said a team of experts agreed the war chemical was the most likely use
The Chelsea owner required hospital treatment in Istanbul after being flown to Turkey from talks in Ukraine.
One theory behind the alleged poisoning is that hardliners close to Vladimir Putin wanted to disrupt peace movements and prolong the war.
In a new interview, Grozov spoke in Russian to tell YouTube channel Popular Politics that all experts agreed the most likely cause of her symptoms was chloropicrin, a chemical warfare agent used in World War I and stockpiled in World War II.
“All the experts who communicated with them studied their photos and conducted personal examinations,” he said.
The experts “all said this was no fluke, no food poisoning, no allergy.”
He said: “You suggested that [Сhlorpicrin] and other war agents.
The Chelsea owner required hospital treatment in Istanbul after being flown to Turkey from talks in Ukraine (pictured yesterday).
“They agreed on one thing, disagreed on the other.
“They also all agreed that the only way to prove the agent was to take these people to a lab or send their blood sample to a lab that has the means to detect war agents.”
He was asked, ‘Which agent did they all agree on?’
Grozev replied: “Chlorpicrin – this is the active ingredient that causes almost all the symptoms that have been identified.
“The only downside to this hypothesis was that chloropicrin usually emits a fairly strong odor, meaning it’s quite difficult to administer unnoticed.
“But then one of the specialists said that there are developments of this remedy – without smell.
“Other suggestions even included a low dosage of novichok, which a really knowledgeable expert said could have led to these symptoms.”
The attack also affected Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov (pictured), who was also spotted at talks in Turkey yesterday
Novichok was used in the poisoning of GRU double agent Sergei Skripal at his home in Salisbury, England, where his daughter Yulia was also hospitalized.
The attack was carried out by the GRU – the Russian military intelligence service.
Novichok was also used to poison Vladimir Putin’s enemy Alexei Navalny in Siberia.
He required life-saving medical treatment in Germany before returning to Russia, where he was imprisoned.
Grozev said it was not possible for Abramovich and the other victims to conduct sufficiently in-depth tests into the cause of the poisoning.
“During the following weeks the symptoms gradually disappeared and since the group … was actually engaged in negotiations and flying from one place to another, it was very difficult to find a day when they could get into a European capital with quality lab,” he said.
“Unfortunately, at the time it was possible, the metabolic processes made it impossible to detect the drug.
“Unfortunately, it will remain a great mystery…
“But it was an absurd time when these people were responsible for finding a peaceful solution to the war.
Novichok was used in the poisoning of GRU double agent Sergei Skripal at his home in Salisbury, England, where his daughter Yulia was also hospitalized
“In any other situation they would have flown where they were told to understand what it was, but in this situation they put negotiations on their health.
‘Maybe we’ll never learn.’
Grozev lashed out at the US for initially claiming that “environmental factors” led to the poisoning of Abramovich, and also at Ukraine, which downplayed the poisoning.
He told the YouTube channel: “To answer your question about why people lie [about poisoning] – they lie for many different reasons.
“The Ukrainian authorities can lie because they don’t want this information to be made public and they don’t want to speed up the negotiation process.
“Possibly this is the same reason why Americans made this absurd and frankly insulting statement that it wasn’t poisoning but some environmental factor.
“This is similar to the Kremlin’s statements that Navalny had problems with glucose.”
Grozev – who is linked to British investigative agency Bellingcat and independent Russian media platforms – said he was called around March 3 to investigate the case because he was aware of previous poisonings.
He contacted other experts who wished to remain anonymous for their safety.
They had no intention of going public with it, but details of the poisoning were beginning to emerge, he said.
“We didn’t want to write about it until … someone started leaking it.”
He said: “What we do know: Three representatives had almost identical symptoms – severe pain in the eyes, red spots around the eye, peeling skin.”
A Russian political scientist Konstantin Kalachev made the extraordinary suggestion that the poisoning may have been an attempt by Abramovich to win sympathy in Britain, where his interests were being harmed by sanctions.
“Abramovich is a flexible, sensible and naturally cunning person,” he said.
“I even expressed the opinion that he himself staged the recent alleged poisoning in Kyiv.
“It appeared on the front pages of British newspapers, he began to look as if he had suffered from ‘hawks’ in Vladimir Putin’s circle.”
The negotiators, who suffered from medical problems, had reportedly only eaten chocolate and drank water.
“It could be someone [in the Kremlin] who does he think [Abramovich] betrayed them by trying to seek peace,” a source was quoted as saying.
The sanctioned billionaire’s eyesight is said to have “completely disappeared” and he was treated in hospital after leaving Kyiv for Istanbul.
Chloropicrin is used in agriculture as a soil fumigant and is banned for military use.
It can be released into the air by liquid spray or contaminate water or food.
It can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion and through the skin.
The active ingredient is “strongly irritating to the lungs, eyes and skin”.