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A Ukrainian-born deliveryman has been sentenced in connection with a poisoned cake and boxes of whiskey that were gifted to a group of Russian military graduates at a party last weekend, a Russian newspaper reported.
Yegor Semenov, a native of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Ukraine, was arrested and charged with petty hooliganism for delivering a cake and boxes of Jameson Irish Whiskey that were laced with poison to a restaurant, according to the story in Kommersant.
Graduates of the Russian Armavir Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots (AVVAUL) were celebrating a 20-year reunion at the restaurant. The group of 77 had gathered for the event on Saturday in Armavir, a city in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, the newspaper's story said.
Semenov reportedly told the Russian pilots that the gifts were from a fellow AVVAUL alumnus who could not attend the reunion and left quickly after dropping off the items. The cake was decorated with the school's emblem.
The pilots found the situation to be "suspicious" and reported the gifts to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the Kommersant story said.
After examining the products, the FSB discovered that the gifts contained traces of poison. Russian officials also suspect that the Security Service of Ukraine had coordinated the attempted poisoning, Kommersant reported, citing unnamed FSB personnel.
Newsweek could not verify Kommersant's report. The Russian Foreign Ministry has been contacted via email for additional information.
Semenov was found guilty by the Armavir City Court and was sentenced to 15 days in prison. The Ukrainian native is also under further investigation and could face charges related to an attempted terrorist attack after serving his current sentence, Kommersant reported.
In August, two Russian officers were killed and another 15 servicemen were hospitalized after a poisoning attack during a military celebration, according to Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol. The attack reportedly took place at a Navy Day celebration in Mariupol, a city in southeastern Ukraine that is occupied by Russia.
Andriushchenko told the Kyiv Post that Russian authorities believe that cyanide and pesticides had been placed in the food at the celebration and that the poisoning was carried out by members of a pro-Ukrainian resistance group in Mariupol. Newsweek could not verify the details of the alleged poisoning scheme.
"Our people say with a smile, 'Rats always need poison.' The day starts with good news. Sabotage is such a nice word, don't you agree?" Andriushchenko wrote in a post to Telegram about the poisoning attempt, according to the Kyiv Post.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more