The wife of Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov suffers from heavy metal poisoning and authorities suspect deliberate poisoning, according to press reports and a source within these services interviewed by AFP.
The source confirmed reports published by Ukrainian media that Marianna Boudanova was poisoned and is receiving treatment, without providing further details on her condition.
Analyzes revealed that she had traces of heavy metals in her body which “are not used in everyday life or in military affairs”.
“Their presence may indicate a deliberate attempt at poisoning,” according to an intelligence source cited by the news site. Babel.
An investigation into a possible assassination attempt is underway, according to this media. Contacted by AFP, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office did not wish to comment immediately.
“In all likelihood”, the poison was delivered “with the food”, added a source within the police cited by the site Ukraïnska Pravda.
“She felt bad, so (medical) analyzes were done and these showed poisoning,” she assured, affirming that Mme Boudanova felt better and completed “the first stage of treatment”.
According to this source, “several” other military intelligence collaborators are also being treated.
Mr. Boudanov has headed the military intelligence department within the Ministry of Defense since 2020. This structure is considered responsible for several attacks against Russia since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
The Russian authorities accuse Mr. Boudanov and his department in particular of having organized in October 2022 a major attack on the bridge linking Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow, to Russia.
Kyrylo Boudanov, 37, said in August that his wife lives with him “in his work office” and has never left him for security reasons since the invasion began.
Two months earlier, a spokesperson for the intelligence service said that Mr. Boudanov had been targeted by “more than ten” attempts on his life.
Russia has repeatedly been accused of poisoning Kremlin adversaries at home and abroad, but it has always denied these facts.