An investigation into “suspicion of poisoning” was opened in Paris on Thursday against Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova, who has taken refuge in the capital and is known for waving a sign on Russian state television denouncing the invasion of Ukraine , as we learned from a source close to the Ukraine case, which was confirmed by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
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According to consistent sources, the journalist felt unwell in the center of the capital on Thursday.
She claimed to have been poisoned by the Russians, according to a source familiar with the matter. An investigation was launched and samples were taken from his home.
A third source familiar with the case stressed that there was “no evidence at this point” of poisoning.
“I fear for my life. When I talk to my friends in Russia, they ask me what I prefer: Novichok, polonium (lethal substances, editor’s note) or a car accident,” she said during a press conference in Paris in February.
Following their discomfort, a team from the press freedom NGO Reporters Without Borders visited the “journalist with the shield,” RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire, listed on X (formerly Twitter).
AFP
Marina Ovsiannikova fled Russia in October 2022.
She was sentenced in absentia last week to eight and a half years in prison for criticizing the Russian army.
The journalist was charged with “spreading false information” about the Russian armed forces and was previously fined for similar offenses in August 2022.