Despite the deaths of four colleagues due to their coverage, Russian journalist Elena Kostyushenko never realized she might have been poisoned when she fell ill on a train to Berlin. She told Reuters, "When you work as an investigative reporter in Russia, you are always careful... you have many protocols that you follow all the time. But when I found myself in Europe, I completely forgot all those safety measures."
German prosecutors are investigating whether Kostyushenko, who now lives in hiding, was a victim of an assassination attempt when she fell ill on the train last October. The symptoms began with dizziness and stomach pain during the train journey from Munich to Berlin and continued for several weeks afterward. By the time she realized she might have been poisoned, it was too late to detect any toxins. She described a swelling condition that also affected her fingers, saying, "I had to take off my rings because my fingers looked like sausages." She added that even after months, she still feels exhausted and can only work for three hours a day.
Opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin living abroad have previously experienced poisoning incidents, including former agent Sergei Skripal, who survived, and Sergei Litvinenko, who died. A former Chechen rebel was also killed in Berlin in what a German court described as an assassination by the Russian state. The Kremlin denies involvement in these killings. Kostyushenko commented, "This aligns with Putin's statement that we cannot forgive traitors... but I never worked with secret services... I thought I was safe in Europe."
Russian activists and journalists, who consider themselves endangered in their country, view EU capitals as potential safe havens, but the specter of being targeted abroad raises their fears. Kostyushenko, who exposed what she suspects are Russian war crimes in Ukraine during her foreign correspondent work, said, "When I found myself in Europe, I completely forgot safety protocols, just like when I discussed my trip to Munich via Facebook Messenger." When doctors told her she might have been poisoned, her initial reaction was to laugh. Kostyushenko was one of three independent Russian journalists who appeared to have experienced poisoning incidents while abroad during the same period, as all three suffered similar symptoms.
