“Tell them I’ll beat them up”
It is puzzling why Abramovich was the target. He was – like the British Times reported – active as a negotiator in the Ukraine war, at the personal request of Russian President Putin. Even the Ukrainian President Zelenskiy probably agreed with him as a negotiator, as he recently did asked US President Joe Biden whether the sanctions once morest Abramovich might be postponed.
Abramovich, who was one of the first oligarchs to attain massive wealth in Russia, has always been very close to Putin. He is said to have agreed to the role of negotiator to salvage his reputation, which had been tarnished by the sanctions. He flew back and forth between Istanbul, Moscow and Kyiv to exchange messages between the presidential offices; it should be loud Times may also have come to a very violent reaction from Putin. “Tell them I’ll beat them up,” he is said to have said when Abramovich briefed him on Ukrainian ideas for a peace treaty.
No Kremlin reaction
According to Bellingcat, the attack was committed in early March. In addition to Abramovich, the target of the attack was the Ukrainian parliamentarian Rustem Umerow; the attack is said to have taken place on Ukrainian territory. Experts who were interviewed are not sure what form of attack it is. Symptoms might result from a chemical, biological, or even radiation attack.
Volodimir Zelensky, who also met Abramovich at the time in question, was not affected by the attack and also knew nothing regarding it, his spokesman said. The Kremlin, from Wall Street Journal faced with the allegations, did not respond.
