アブラモビッチ氏とウクライナ交渉団に毒物か　関係筋明かす

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】米紙ウォールストリート・ジャーナルは２８日、関係者の話として、ロシア人富豪ロマン・アブラモビッチ氏とウクライナの交渉代表団が、両国間の停戦交渉を妨害しようとするロシアの強硬派により毒を盛られた疑いがあると報じた。ＡＦＰが取材した関係筋も、同紙の報道を事実と認めた。（写真はイングランド・プレミアリーグ、チェルシーのオーナーでロシア人富豪のロマン・アブラモビッチ氏）
　ウクライナ侵攻をめぐり、ロシアのウラジーミル・プーチンに圧力をかけることを目的とした西側諸国の制裁を受けているアブラモビッチ氏は、各地で行われる両国間の交渉に参加していると報じられている。
　関係者がウォールストリート・ジャーナル紙に語ったところによると、ウクライナの首都キエフでの協議後、アブラモビッチ氏と少なくとも２人のウクライナ代表者が、目の充血や痛み、涙目、顔や手の皮膚の剥離などの症状を訴えた。その後回復し、命に別条はないとされている。実行者の正体は不明だが、被害者は停戦交渉を妨害しようとするロシアの強硬派による犯行を主張しているという。
　同紙の取材に応じた英検証サイト「ベリングキャット」研究員のクリスト・グロゼフ氏は、「殺害の意図はなく、単なる警告」だったとの見方を示した。同氏は、２０２０年にロシアの反体制派指導者アレクセイ・ナワリヌイ氏が神経剤による毒殺未遂に遭った事件について、ロシア政府の工作員が実行したとの調査結果を出している。
　グロゼフ氏はアブラモビッチ氏の被害の様子を捉えた画像は見たものの、毒物検出のためのサンプル採取は間に合わなかったという。グロゼフ氏はツイッターへの投稿で、被害に遭った３人は「症状が出るまでの数時間、チョコレートと水しか口にしていなかった」と説明している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/03/29-10:48）

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators were targets of a suspected poison attack, potentially by Moscow hardliners seeking to sabotage peace talks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The billionaire businessman, recently slapped with sanctions by Western nations seeking to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, has reportedly been shuttling between Kyiv, Moscow and other negotiation sites.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to AFP, stating: Unfortunately this took place, what the Wall Street Journal reported.
After a meeting in Ukraine's capital, Abramovich and at least two senior Ukrainian negotiators developed symptoms including red eyes, painfully watery eyes, and peeling skin on their face and hands, according to sources cited by the American newspaper.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak did not confirm the incident, instead advising to follow only the official information.
All members of the negotiation team are working as usual today, he said. There is a lot of speculation about the information in the media and various conspiracy theories.
It was not clear exactly who may have conducted the alleged attack, but those targeted blamed hardliners in Moscow seeking to disrupt ongoing talks to end the war, the Journal said.
The conditions of Abramovich and the other negotiators have improved and their lives are not in danger, the people said.
It was not intended to kill, it was just a warning, Christo Grozev, an investigator with open-source collective Bellingcat, said in the Journal after studying the incident.
Grozev, who determined after an investigation that Kremlin agents poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020, saw images of the effects of the apparent Abramovich attack, but no samples could be collected in time for forensic experts to detect poison, the paper reported.
Bellingcat said on Twitter that the three men experiencing symptoms consumed only chocolate and water in the hours before the symptoms appeared.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that his government had received offers of support from Russian businessmen, including Abramovich, who owns and is seeking to sell Chelsea Football Club and has had longstanding links to Putin.
Zelensky told journalists that the businessmen had said they wanted to do something and help somehow to de-escalate Russia's military assault on Ukraine that has left thousands dead.
Zelensky did not mention a suspected poisoning, and according to the Journal a presidential spokesman had no information about such an attack.
Western countries including the United States and the EU have imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including placing oligarchs and other individuals close to Putin on sanctions lists.
Last week the Wall Street Journal reported Zelensky asked US President Joe Biden to hold off on sanctioning Abramovich, arguing that the Russian billionaire could play a role in negotiating a peace deal with Moscow.