RUSSIAN oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered suspected poisoning symptoms after a meeting in Kyiv last month, it has been reported.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has told how Abramovich, 55, and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian negotiating team developed symptoms including red eyes, peeling skin on their face and hands and constant and painful tearing.
Sources familiar with the matter told the WSJ that they blamed the suspected attack on Moscow hard-liners who wanted to sabotage talks to end the war, whilst a source close to Abramovich said it wasn’t clear who targeted the group.
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Billionaire Abramovich and the Ukrainian negotiators, who include Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov, have since improved and their lives aren’t in danger, the sources said.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with Abramovich, wasn’t affected, the WSJ reports.
Bellingcat can confirm that three members of the delegation attending the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on the night of 3 to 4 March 2022 experienced symptoms consistent with poisoning with chemical weapons. One of victims was Russian entrepreneur Roman Abramovich. https://t.co/DJaZ4CoL8J
— Bellingcat (@bellingcat) March 28, 2022
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s spokesman said he had no information about any suspected poisoning.
And, western experts who allegedly investigated the incident could not determine whether the symptoms were caused by a chemical or biological agent, or by some sort of electromagnetic radiation attack.
It was announced Abramovich would be taking part in peace negotiation talks on February 28 this year, and Putin had reportedly personally signed off on the Chelsea owner’s involvement.
Abramovich (above) was asked by Ukraine to help mediate because of his background in Russia, where he made a fortune in the chaotic 1990s period of post-communist privatisation, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on condition of anonymity.
Word of Abramovich's involvement in talks on the conflict first came from the Jewish News, which said Kyiv had reached out through Jewish contacts to seek his help.
A spokeswoman for Abramovich said at the time: "I can confirm Roman Abramovich was contacted by the Ukrainian side for support in achieving a peaceful resolution, and that he has been trying to help ever since.
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"Considering what is at stake, we would ask for understanding as to why we have not commented on either the situation as such or his involvement."
The Times later reported on March 24 that Abramovich was no longer involved in peace negotiations.
Abramovich is Jewish and has Israeli citizenship, was one of the most powerful businessmen who earned fabulous fortunes after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Forbes has put his net worth at $13.3 billion.
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