“The report states that “the Kremlin is targeting political and opposition leaders in former Soviet republics that Moscow considers a threat.””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to mass media, the document was partially declassified at the request of a journalist of the publication. Among the possible orders of the Kremlin, intelligence also names the poisoning of the ex-president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko. Some parts of the document are hidden to protect confidential information.
“Anonymous U.S. intelligence officials have long said they suspect some of the mysterious deaths over the years were part of Putin’s campaign to kill his enemies. But the internal US government documents that contained such clear claims have never actually been made public. Now the situation has changed,” writes Bloomberg.
The mass media notes that the journalist of their publication tried for many years to get the secret report, but he was constantly refused. In the end, he used a law signed by former President Barack Obama that “the public may demand the release of a certain classified document of which it is aware.”
The report states that “the Kremlin is targeting political and opposition leaders in former Soviet republics that Moscow considers a threat.”
“A key example is the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, who was poisoned almost fatally in 2004. His supporters concluded that Russian intelligence had added the chemical dioxin to his food when he was a presidential candidate and advocated Ukraine’s integration with the West,” the document states.
Thus, the National Intelligence Service of the USA does not claim that Russia was behind the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko. American intelligence agencies refer to the associates of the former president of Ukraine who talked about it.
Among other cases, the following are mentioned:
- Zelimkhan Yandarbiev (2004): Chechen leader killed in Qatar by Russian military intelligence.
- Oleksandr Lytvynenko (2006): former Russian spy poisoned with polonium-210 in London.
- Oleksandr Perepelichnyi (2012): Russian businessman poisoned by a biologically toxic substance in the UK shortly before he was due to testify in a Kremlin corruption case.
- Oleksandr Bydnov (2015): leader of the pro-Russian “Batman” battalion in Donbas, killed as a result of “internal purges”.
The document also indicates that Russian special services have the ability to use chemical and biological agents to eliminate people abroad. Although the document is dated 2016, it remains relevant, according to the investigation. Putin, according to analysts, “continues to use assassinations as a tool of state policy.”
“The declassification of this document is an important signal for understanding the scale of the Kremlin’s repressions. At the same time, this is a reminder of the need for global monitoring of such actions,” the analysts concluded.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment on this information.
The editorial staff of Radio Liberty is currently unable to verify this data from independent sources.
20 years ago, in September 2004, it became known about the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, then candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. At first it was not clear what happened to him. It was obvious by looking at him that he had serious health problems. But soon the Austrian doctors to whom he turned declared that he had been poisoned by dioxin. Viktor Yushchenko himself said that he was poisoned during a dinner with the heads of the Ukrainian special services. At least, according to him, after that dinner he immediately felt sick. But the official investigation did not prove either this or the other version and reached a dead end. Therefore, it is unequivocally unknown what happened to Viktor Yushchenko 20 years ago.