MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian hospital said that two women, identified by news reports as Americans who ingested the so-called “poisoner’s poison” thallium, were in serious condition on Tuesday, 10 days after falling ill.
A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said consular officials were in touch with local family of the women, reported to be Soviet-born naturalized U.S. citizens who had come to Moscow for a wedding. But the embassy, citing privacy concerns, declined to give the women’s names, hometown or other details including whether they were hospitalized on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Sklifosovsky Clinic, Moscow’s top emergency-medicine facility, said Marina and Yana Kovalenskaya were in the hospital Tuesday in “medium serious condition,” but declined to give other details. Russian news reports said Marina Kovalenskaya – in her 40s – is Yana Kovalenskaya’s mother.
Moscow’s top public-health doctor, Nikolai Filatov, was quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency as saying that thallium poisoning had been confirmed and that it was possible the women would be sent to the United States on Wednesday for further treatment.
“Thallium poisoning is very serious. The consequences of such poisoning depends on one’s organism, the dose and the length of contact,” Filatov was quoted as saying.
He could not be reached by The Associated Press for further comment.
Moscow police also declined comment, but the Ekho Moskvy radio said police were investigating cafes and restaurants in the area of the hotel where the women had been staying.
There was no indication of whether the women had business or political interests in Russia that could have prompted retaliation.
Thallium is colorless, odorless and deadly in doses as small as 0.04 ounces (1.13 grams), giving it a reputation as a poison of choice for assassins.
It was initially suspected to be the toxin used in last year’s fatal poisoning in London of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko, but it was later determined he had ingested the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210.
For poisoning purposes, thallium would be in a powdery or crystallized state. The poison works by knocking out the body’s supply of potassium, essential for healthy cells, attacking the nervous system, the stomach and kidneys. Its effects are not immediately noticeable and frequently take weeks to kick in; symptoms include hair loss and a burning sensation in extremities.
In the past, thallium has been used in rat poison and it continues to be used industrially, to manufacture products including glass lenses, semiconductors, dyes and pigments.
Thallium was used by Saddam Hussein, who poisoned several of his Iraqi opponents. It also reportedly was considered by the CIA for use against Fidel Castro, possibly by putting thallium powder in his shoes to prompt loss of his trademark beard.
