It has already been officially confirmed that the wife of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov , Marianna, was poisoned with heavy metals. At the same time, several GUR employees have mild symptoms of poisoning. However, the exact number of these individuals is unknown.
Marianna Budanova's condition is more serious than that of intelligence workers. The wife of the head of the GUR is in the hospital, where doctors are monitoring her. Journalists, citing their own sources, claim that her course of treatment will soon be completed.
It is alleged that Marianna's symptoms appeared much faster due to the fact that she is light. Poisoning was confirmed in a number of GUR employees, but they weigh more. ICTV Facts has compiled everything that is currently known.
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- How could Marianna Budanova be poisoned?
- Was this an attempt on the life of the head of Ukrainian intelligence?
- Motives for poisoning
- What does the toxicologist think?
- What toxic substances could be used
How could Marianna Budanova be poisoned?
Anonymous sources claim that Marianna Budanova could have been poisoned through food. These heavy metals, which were found in the body of the wife of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, are not used in everyday life or in military affairs.
The presence of these substances may indicate a deliberate attempt to poison a specific person, intelligence officials said. The GUR did not provide any further details regarding this incident.
Was this an attempt on the life of the head of Ukrainian intelligence?
So far, no one has decided to officially comment on who exactly was the target of the poisoning – the GUR officers, his wife Marianna, or the head of Ukrainian intelligence Kirill Budanov himself.
According to journalists, criminal proceedings have not yet been opened. However, it is possible that an investigation will begin in the near future.
It is known that Budanov managed to survive at least 10 assassination attempts. In 2019, someone planted explosives under his vehicle, but it was detonated prematurely.
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According to Budanov himself, because of this death mark, he leads a cautious personal life, but risky operations remain his responsibility. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate shared that he mostly lives in the office. After the full-scale invasion, he stated that his wife Marianne also lived there with him.
Photo: ICTV Facts
Journalists suggest that classical music is played around the clock in the office of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate to avoid attempts to listen to conversations inside. Earlier, Marianna also shared one of the cases when an attempt was made on Budanov.
“Kirill Alekseevich was at a meeting a few walls away from me, and I went into one of the rooms to read some documents. She took off her shoes and lay down on the sofa opposite the window. A few minutes later I hear a sound that cannot be confused with anything – a rocket impact,” she told reporters.
According to Marianna, then she ran out to the door, and Kirill Budanov ran out to meet her. However, their brother died that day. The wife of the head of intelligence is not an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate, but lives in Budanov’s office with him.
Motives for poisoning
The head of the Center for Military Legal Research, Alexander Musienko, named two main versions that can be considered as the motives for the poisoning of Marianna Budanova and the GUR workers.
“We are talking about an assassination attempt here.” And the purpose of this attempt is twofold. The first is personal revenge on the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, who, in a good sense, has an adventurous, correct character in terms of conducting operations, planning, and implementation that have a resounding effect. And this is very good for his profession and the structure he heads. It is very important. We see that these are operations that took place recently in the occupied Crimea, where the Main Intelligence Directorate was involved and played an important role,” he noted.
According to the expert, the second motive is to create panic and chaos in Ukrainian society.
“The second motive is to provoke a discussion that there is an alleged conflict between the military and political leadership, some kind of discord and misunderstandings, and the attempt on the life of Kirill Budanov’s wife was beneficial to some internal players,” the analyst noted.
What does the toxicologist think?
Chemist-toxicologist Vladimir Sargsyan suggested that Marianna Budanova could have been poisoned with an odorless and tasteless substance, mixed into food or water. The number of these chemical compounds is quite limited. According to him, not all metals are of forensic interest.
“Among them: lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, nickel, zinc, thallium, bismuth, maybe the metalloid arsene (arsenic),” listed the toxicologist chemist.
There are other toxic metals, but they are not as common. Intelligence reported that these substances are not used in everyday life or military affairs, which may indicate a deliberate attempt to poison a specific person.
Sargsyan noted that such metals do not exist in nature. All stable compounds from the periodic table are used in human everyday life.
At the same time, there was information about the poisoning of several more employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, but Budanov’s wife showed symptoms faster because she was lighter. Other victims allegedly did not notice anything wrong with themselves, but are now undergoing treatment.
A person's weight is not the only factor influencing the rate of poisoning. What is important is the amount of substance administered and the body’s ability to break down and digest. At the same time, it is important what poisons were previously ingested with food.
The toxicologist noted that there is currently no information whether there were other poisons in the body and when exactly the poisoning occurred. This can last for weeks, or even months – the body’s ability also depends on this.
“Therefore, we cannot exclude the possibility that Marianna Budanova could have been poisoned long before the first symptoms. Specific information about the severity of the poisoning is unknown,” the chemist noted.
According to the toxicologist, with a timely course of detoxification and treatment, the severe consequences of heavy metal poisoning can be avoided. In his opinion, it would not be surprising if in a few weeks Budanov’s wife returns to normal life.
What poisonous substances could be used
The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service in 2020-2021, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate in 2015-2016, Valery Kondratyuk claims that he has classified information that has not yet been known.
— Poisoning occurred with heavy metals. During the analysis, metals such as arsenic and mercury were discovered. It is clear that it takes some time to remove these things from the body, he says.
This poisoning affected not only Budanov’s wife directly, but also employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Moscow Region. We are not talking about the guards who were with Marianne.
Here we are talking about high-ranking officials – heads of individual areas who are responsible for the operation against Russia in the Ukrainian GUR.
— An SBU investigation should be conducted and a criminal case should be initiated. It is a crime. The crime is directed not only against military leaders, but also against humanity, says Kondratyuk.
He noted that poison is the most well-known means used by Russian intelligence services not only to achieve the goals of the Kremlin, but also against all opponents abroad opposing the regime of dictator Vladimir Putin.
