London: Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the owner of English football giant Chelsea, has reportedly survived an alleged poisoning attempt while he took part in peace negotiations to end the Ukraine-Russia war.
The billionaire and a Ukrainian peace negotiator suffered symptoms of a suspected poisoning following a meeting they attended in Kyiv in early March as part of an effort to forge an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Poisoned: Roman Abramovich,Credit:AP
Abramovich, sanctioned by Britain and the European Union this month, was said to have shown symptoms including peeling skin on his face and hands, and red teary eyes. There was one report that he had lost his sight for several hours.
Bellingcat, the open-source intelligence group, said it had investigated the apparent poisoning and suggested that chemical weapons may have been used, possibly contained in chocolate or water.
He has since recovered from the symptoms, having been treated for his symptoms in Turkey. A person close to Abramovich told the newspaper it was unclear who was behind the poisoning.
The Wall Street Journal reported the attack was thought to be the work of hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to sabotage talks to end the war.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was reported to have asked the US President Joe Biden to hold off on imposing sanctions on Abramovich believing that the Russian oligarch could be an important go-between in talks.
The US Department of the Treasury was set to announce the freezing of Abramovich’s assets earlier this month following the UK and EU earlier this month when the White House’s national security council suddenly intervened.
The alleged incident was reported to have taken place on March 3, and at least two Ukrainians involved in the peace talks also suffered symptoms in an attack which was “not intended to kill” and was “just a warning”, the WSJ reported.
Bellingcat reported that Abramovich and another Russian entrepreneur were involved in negotiations until about 10pm. His symptoms reportedly emerged later that evening at a Kyiv flat, and lessened in the morning. They reportedly ate only chocolate and drank water in the hours before they were said to have fallen ill.
A security expert told Bellingcat the symptoms could be the result of attempted poisoning with a chemical weapon, or less likely caused by microwave radiation.
Bellingcat has a history of investigating Russian activities and previously concluded that a Kremlin team poisoned the opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020.
In 2018, Russian operatives in Britain also used a nerve agent in a bungled assassination plot against a defected KGB officer, Sergei Skripal, killing a UK citizen in Salisbury.
Abramovich met Putin last Wednesday in Moscow, presenting him with a handwritten note from Zelensky outlining the terms Ukraine would consider agreeing to in order to end the month-long war. Putin’s initial response was reportedly unequivocal: “Tell him I will thrash them.”
The superyacht, Solaris, owned by Roman Abramovich off the coast of Montenegro. Credit:Getty
Abramovich put Chelsea FC up for sale days after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 25, saying he would not ask for his £1.5 billion loan to the club to be repaid. He promised he would donate all net proceeds to the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The British government this month alleged Abramovich, 55, had financially benefited from his decades-long “close relationship” with Putin, with his oil and steel empires earning him more than an estimated £9.4 billion ($16.4 billion). He has vehemently disputed reports suggesting his alleged closeness to Putin and the Kremlin or that he has done anything to merit sanctions being imposed against him.
The British government said at the time of sanctioning him that he was, or had been, involved in “destabilising Ukraine” and undermining or threatening its independence via Evraz PLC, a steel manufacturing and mining company.
Abramovich’s assets in the UK include a Kensington townhouse worth £150 million and another £22 million house overlooking the River Thames in London, with yachts, private jets and supercars spread across the world worth more than £1 billion.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on announcing a full asset freeze and travel ban on the Russian businessmen on March 10 that he had the “blood of the Ukrainian people… on their hands”.
Abramovich’s daughter Sofia, a 27-year-old influencer, shared an anti-Putin image across her social media earlier this month, saying: “The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin”.
Last week, it was reported that Putin had approved Abramovich taking part in the peace talks. He had been moving between Moscow, Lviv and elsewhere for negotiations and met Zelensky as part of the talks.
A spokesman for Zelensky said he was not affected and had no knowledge of any poisoning attempt.
They said there were “a lot of speculations” and “various conspiracy theories” about what had taken place.
Zelensky has said on Monday that progress was being made in peace talks which have restarted between officials in Turkey.
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