Russia seems to be using poison attacks against Kremlin critics and critical journalists. After symptoms of poisoning, the FBI investigates in several cases.
Moscow - Russia may have carried out poison attacks in several cases since the beginning of the Ukraine war to intimidate Kremlin critics. The independent Russian news portal Agentsvo reports on possible assassination attempts by Russia on the head of an American NGO and a former US ambassador to Ukraine. In addition, journalists critical of the Kremlin may have been monitored and put under pressure by the Russian secret service.
Russia has repeatedly used poison attacks against critics. © Christian Ohde/imago-images.de
Poison attack from Russia? NGO leader reports symptoms of poisoning
Agentsvo describes two alleged cases of Russian poison attacks. They are said to have occurred in the spring of 2023. Natalia Arno, the head of the Free Russia Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the United States that advocates for a free democratic Russia, was allegedly the victim of a Russian poison attack during a trip to Europe, the news portal writes.
Arno himself had reported on the possible poison attack in a post on social media: "There is a suspicion that I was poisoned during my last trip to Europe, possibly by a nerve agent investigated by a Western intelligence agency, I still have neuropathy symptoms, but overall I feel much better," the US news portal Daily Beast quotes the activist.
Arno is committed to promoting democracy, human rights and freedom in her home country of Russia and in Eurasia. In 2014, she founded the "Free Russia Foundation" to bundle efforts of pro-democracy Russians. The organization advises Western policymakers and supports activists who are persecuted by the Russian or Belarusian government.
Putin agents on the way: FBI investigates suspected Russian poison attack
Arno felt a strong malaise during a stay in the Czech Republic at the beginning of May this year, Agentsvo reports, citing conversations with personal acquaintances of the NGO chief. She had been in Prague for a meeting of Russian opposition members organized by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. There she felt numbness in her body and pain in different parts of her body. Shortly before the symptoms appeared, Arno noticed that the door to her hotel room was open and there was a strange smell in the room, similar to the "aroma of cheap perfume," an acquaintance told the Russian news portal.
The next morning, Arno flew back to the USA, where she has lived for ten years. There she went to the hospital because the symptoms had not subsided and informed the state authorities. The FBI then launched an investigation and took clothes and other items that Arno had with him on her trip for investigative purposes. However, Agentsvo said it was unable to obtain any further information about the outcome of the investigations.
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During the period of the Prague meeting, a Russian journalist who had recently left her homeland also suffered from health problems, Agentsvo reports. The journalist had turned to the Berlin Charité, where the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been treated after a poison attack and a Novichok poisoning.
Accusations against the Kremlin: Former US ambassador allegedly poisoned by Russia
These incidents do not seem to have been the only ones: Russia is said to have carried out at least one other suspected poison attack since 2020. John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is said to have experienced symptoms of poisoning in the months leading up to Russia's attack on Ukraine. At the time, the FBI launched an investigation into the sharp deterioration of Herbst's health, acquaintances told the Russian news portal. Herbst now works as executive director of the Eurasian Center at the Atlantic Council.
The latter confirmed in a press release on Tuesday (16 May) that Herbst had fallen ill in April 2021 and had shown symptoms that may indicate poisoning - including elevated levels of toxins in his blood. Doctors had treated Herbst, but "could not clearly conclude that he was poisoned." The American law enforcement authorities had also taken a blood sample from him, but the laboratory results had not detected any toxic compounds.
Concern about Putin's people: Kremlin-critical investigative journalist may be a target
Russia has been using not only poison attacks, but also intimidation attempts against its critics since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Authoritarian states also take action against their supposed "enemies" beyond their national borders. As several informants told Agentsvo, the hotel room of investigative journalist Hristo Grozev was broken into in the summer of 2022 at a journalists' conference on Russia in Montenegro. Grozev has been working for the Bellingcat journalists' collective since 2015 and has been involved in several significant investigations, including on Russian poison attacks. The investigative research has identified the perpetrators of the poisoning of Navalny and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
During the search of Grozev's hotel room in the summer of 2022, hackers may have accessed information in the journalist's personal devices, an acquaintance told Agentsvo. In his own opinion, Grozev has long since become a target of the Kremlin through his work critical of Russia: At the beginning of February, he told the Austrian newspaper Falter that he would not return to his adopted home of Vienna, where he had lived for almost 20 years. He said he had "received several warnings from various law enforcement agencies in Europe." There is clear evidence that his life is in danger. "I suspect that there are more Russian agents, informers and henchmen in the city than police officers," Grozev told Falter.
In the past, the Russian secret service has repeatedly carried out poison attacks on Russian opposition members and Kremlin critics. Most recently, the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny caused a stir in August 2020. The Charité hospital in Berlin, which treated him, had diagnosed him with the nerve agent Novichok. Previously, the Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter had already been victims of a Russian poisoning attack. Former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko was also killed by a radioactive substance on behalf of the FSB in 2006. Most recently, the Russian opposition politician Elvira Vikhareva is said to have been poisoned since the end of 2022. (kasa
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