Russia reveals details of alleged "chemical poisoning" of puppet head of Luhansk

Russia's Defence Ministry has claimed that Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-appointed "head" of the sham "Luhansk People's Republic" terrorist organisation, was severely poisoned with phenolic compounds in December 2023.

Source: Russian Defence Ministry

Details: Igor Kirillov, Head of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence at the Russian Armed Forces, claimed that Pasechnik had been diagnosed with severe phenolic poisoning.

Russia's Defence Ministry also claimed that the chemical agent ricin had been used to poison another collaborator, Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-appointed "head" of the occupied part of Kherson Oblast, in 2022, and was later found in biomedical samples taken from him. The poisoning of Saldo allegedly involved an individual from his inner circle who had been recruited by Ukraine's Security Service.

In addition, the Russian Ministry of Defence said other "senior officials" had also been poisoned. The names of those officials have not been disclosed.

Background: On 20 August 2022, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that Russian soldiers in Zaporizhzhia Oblast had been poisoned with an artificially derived toxin.

Saldo was hospitalised in occupied Crimea on 5 August. He was put into a medically induced coma and connected to a ventilator. There were reports that Saldo was going to be transferred to a Moscow hospital as he was deteriorating, but ultimately he recovered. 

Russian media reports indicated that doctors suspected Saldo might have been poisoned. Other reports suggested that he may have suffered a stroke.

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