The Russian oligarch and at least two senior members of the Ukrainian delegation showed symptoms that included red eyes, persistent and painful tears and peeling skin on their faces and hands, according to sources familiar with the matter. Mr Abramovich accepted a request from Ukraine in late February to help negotiate an end to Vladimir Putin’s invasion a few days after it began. The Kremlin said last week that it had played a role in the peace talks early on, but that the process was now in the hands of the negotiating teams on both sides. Sources told the Wall Street Journal that they blamed the suspected poisoning attack on hardliners in Moscow, who said they wanted to sabotage talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Mr Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators, including Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov, have since recovered and their lives are not in danger, according to sources. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with Mr Abramovich, was unaffected, they said. Mr Zelensky’s spokesman said he had no information about the suspected incident. In response to the report, the investigative news agency Bellingcat reported that three members of the delegation that took part in the peace talks on the night of March 3 showed symptoms consistent with chemical weapons poisoning. One of the victims was Mr Abramovich, he said on Twitter. Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov took part in the negotiations, according to Bellingcat, although it was not clear whether he was personally affected by the suspected poisoning. Three members of the negotiating team retired to an apartment in Kyiv later in the evening of March 3 and reportedly felt the initial symptoms that did not subside until the morning. On March 4, the negotiating team drove from the capital to Lviv on its way to Poland and then to the Turkish capital, Istanbul, to resume informal talks with the Russian side, Bellingcat said. Chemical weapons experts told the agency that the symptoms were most likely the result of poisoning with an unspecified chemical weapon, with microwave radiation being another but less likely case. A source with immediate knowledge of the situation confirmed the reports to The Guardian and said that Mr. Abramovich lost his sight for several hours before being hospitalized in Turkey. The Kremlin critic and London-based anti-corruption activist wrote on Twitter: “This is absolutely crazy if it is true.” Mr Abramovich was summoned by Ukraine last month to help mediate because of his origins in Russia, where he amassed wealth in the 1990s following post-communist privatization. Under Putin, Mr Abramovich served as governor of the remote Chukotka Arctic region of Russia before buying Chelsea in 2003. Earlier this month, Mr Abramovich seized all his assets in the UK and EU, with the British government saying it had been in close contact with the Russian president for decades.
