Ukraine war

RUSSIAN Oligarch Roman Abramovich has reportedly suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning.The Chelsea owner fell ill along with Ukrainian peace negotiators, in an attack blamed on hardliners in Moscow who they say want to sabotage their talks designed to end the war.
Roman Abramovich has suffered suspected poisoningCredit: Rex
The Chelsea owner experienced peeling skin and red eyesCredit: rex
Abramovich hand-delivered a note to Vladimir Putin just weeks agoCredit: EPA
Symptoms included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The billionaire and at least two members of his Ukrainian counterparts fell ill shortly after a meeting in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv earlier this month.
Abramovich left the UK earlier this month after being sanctioned by the British government over his ties to Vladimir Putin.
The 54-year-old has since been involved in secret peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
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He has been shuttling back and forth between Moscow and Lviv in western Ukraine since the start of the war.
It isn’t known whether the suspected attack was caused by a biological or chemical agent or some sort of electromagnetic-radiation attack.
President Zelensky, who has met with Abramovich in recent weeks, was reportedly unaffected.
The Russian handed Putin a handwritten note from Zelensky just days ago.
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A person close to Abramovich said it wasn’t clear who had targeted the group, but it may have been hardliners in Moscow who want to sabotage peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The conditions of the Oligarch and his Ukrainian negotiators, including Crimean Tartar lawmaker Rustem Umerov, have since improved and their lives are no longer in danger, sources have said.
It came as Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK amid a crackdown on Russian money as the world seeks to strangle Putin’s regime.
The 55-year-old billionaire faces ruin as tough new restrictions were slapped on him over his home country’s bloody and brutal invasion.
Abramovich – who has a net worth of around £10billion – has been banned from selling Chelsea and has had all of his UK assets frozen after weeks of speculation he could be subject to sanctions.
Documents published by the British government accuse the Chelsea boss of having a “close relationship” with Putin.
And UK officials also accused him of being involved in “destabilising” Ukraine through his stake in steel manufacturers and mining company Evraz PLC.
Documents allege the firm may have provided steel to the Russian military which would have been used in the production of tanks.

It comes as…

Ukrainian soldiers have recaptured one of the first towns to fall to Russian invaders.
Dramatic Call Of Duty-style footage shows the moment a Ukrainian soldier obliterates a Russian tank using a guided missile.
Murdered Putin rival Boris Nemtsov ‘was tailed’ by an agent linked to Kremlin hit squad as suspect lays siege to Mariupol.
Up to 40,000 Ukrainians have been snatched from besieged cities and forced into Russian slave labour in a war crime.
Chilling footage shows injured Russian soldiers looking terrified as they are awarded bravery medals for their role in Putin’s Ukraine invasion.
Russia wants to split Ukraine in half like North and South Korea, the country’s military intelligence chief has warned.
A blind mystic who is said to have predicted 9/11 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine claimed Putin will become “lord of the world”.
Civilians in Kyiv have resorted to drinking sewage water as the city continues to be bombarded by horror Russian missile strikes.

Abramovich’s spokesman has previously denied Evraz steel was used for the Russian military, saying it was meant for “rail and construction”.
Russian tanks – often painted with the white ‘Z’ symbol – have played a major role in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The government document reads Evraz has been involved in “undermining or threatening” Ukraine, which includes “potentially supplying steel to the Russian military which may have been used in the production of tanks”.
The Russian Oligarch has been involved in peace talks in Ukraine in recent weeksCredit: Rex
The document describes Abramovich as a “pro-Kremlin oligarch” and also accuses him of taking a “financial benefit or other material benefit” from his association with Putin.
Companies linked to him are said to have gotten tax breaks, received benefits on share sales, and won contracts in the run up to the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Abramovich took direct control of the steel group just last month – days before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich had previously sold a £151million stake in Evraz back in 2019 – a move which the company said it hoped would reduce the sanctions risk.
Pressure had been growing for the government to sanction Abramovich as he was attempting to offload Chelsea by putting it up for sale.
Abramovich – who holds Russian, Israeli and Portuguese citizenship – has now seen the club thrown into limbo.
Western officials have been going after Russia’s cash and those who have close links to Putin, such as Abramovich.
It is hoped going after the mafia-style regime’s coffers will help put an end to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Abramovich is among many of Putin’s cronies sanctioned to keep twisting the thumbscrews on Russia for waging a cruel war on Ukraine.
The Chelsea owner has a sprawling property portfolio in Britain – which he can no longer visit after a travel ban.
Help those fleeing conflict with The Sun’s Ukraine FundPICTURES of women and children fleeing the horror of Ukraine’s devastated towns and cities have moved Sun readers to tears.
Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos — and now you can, by donating to The Sun’s Ukraine Fund.
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For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund More

JUST over a month ago, Maksym Bilyi’s biggest concern was how he and his Rukh Lviv team-mates would perform in the second half of the season.They had no hope of catching top two Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv but a successful mid-season break in Turkey had filled them with confidence of a solid, mid-table finish in Ukraine’s Premier League.
Rukh Kviv owner Grigory Kozlovsky wanted his team to win the Champions League – now the focus is on staying aliveCredit: Chris Eades
The Ukrainian Premier League team boast some of the best football facilities in the countryCredit: Chris Eades
Now, centre-half Bilyi spends his time wondering not if but when he will be going to the front line in his country’s war with Russia.
The shocking speed at which Ukraine has been devastated is perfectly illustrated by how the life of every person at one top club has been turned upside down.
Rukh Lviv are an up-and-coming outfit who boast the newest training facilities in the country and the best, according to staff who proudly proclaim: “Better even than Shakhtar’s!”
Driven by the wealth and ambition of a local millionaire businessman, Rukh were promoted to the top flight the season before last.
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Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-i1acvs:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}US SLAMMING .css-8h3gc3{margin:0;padding:0;color:rgba(34,37,38,1);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:The Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-8h3gc3:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Biden slams Putin’s attempts to divide NATO as forces enter town near Chernobyl
They are aiming to establish themselves as a top-tier force but owner Grigory Kozlovsky’s ambitions go even further.
Along with landing the Champions League, his dream is that one day the entire starting line-up for a Ukrainian international will be products of the club’s new youth academy.
But those dreams are for the future as for everyone from tea lady to owner cares only about the daily, bloody reality of war.
Kozlovsky has evacuated his family, the press officer spends his days manning a village checkpoint and catering workers are feeding 700 refugees at the club’s stadium.
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Some staff have joined army units and even players are contemplating signing up.
Bilyi, 31, a top-flight player for 13 years including two seasons at Hajduk Split in Croatia, said: “No players from our club have gone to the front line yet. But we will.
“If the Russian soldiers head this way we will take up arms.
“Nobody is thinking about football anymore. Before we would think about it all the time and we would train a lot and always be thinking about the next match.
“Football dominated our lives but now it doesn’t seem important anymore.
“Before, we cared about winning matches, now we just care about being alive.
“We went to Turkey for our mid-season break, which was good. We had good results and all the players were in excellent shape.
“Fans were looking forward to the matches and staff were busy getting ready and selling tickets for the first game.
“But, just before it was due, the war started.”
‘VERY SCARED’
Team-mate, Bohdan Boychuk, was left in fear for his parents after they were trapped in Kherson, the first sizeable city to fall to invading troops.
Kherson is now under Russian control as desperate locals face a daily battle for food.
Boychuk, 25, says: “There is a real shortage. People can get just one item a day such as a loaf of bread.
“They are very scared but at least the shooting has stopped and luckily I am still able to phone them. I call them every day.”
When asked if he would be prepared to take up arms to defend his parents — and his country — should the need ever arise, Boychuk is as determined as his team-mate Bilyi. Without hesitation, he said: “Yes, of course.”
Press officer Bogdan Tymovchuk, 37, used to spend his days coordinating media coverage for matchdays.
He was also busy preparing for the grand opening of the training facilities — nine pitches and state-of-the-art gym facilities surrounded by commercial developments to boost revenue including a hotel and ski slope.
A lavish ceremony planned for May has been scrapped, as have matchday press conferences.
Instead, he is one of thousands who are manning village checkpoints which have sprung up all over the country in scenes reminiscent of World War Two.
Tymovchuk said: “Our concern used to be if the players were fit and whether we would win three points. Now we worry about war.
If the war comes to Lviv we will all fight, and that includes the playersGrigory Kozlovsky
“Our Instagram account would be full of posts about the players. Now it is to organise volunteers to help refugees and the military.”
Like the club’s owner, Tymovchuk sent his pregnant wife and their three-year-old son abroad out of harm’s way.
He said: “I am pleased she is safe but I know she will be worrying because there may come a time when I will have to fight.”
Kozlovsky — referred to as Mr President by club staff — occupies a top-floor office at the training facility with a balcony which overlooks the pitch where the first team would train in peacetime.
Wearing a yellow training top which, in football tradition, bears his initials GK, he bursts out laughing when it is pointed out they also stand for goalkeeper.
He is proud of his own career as a keeper although he never quite made it to the top level.
It is a rare moment of levity as the conversation turns back to the war.
He said: “If the war comes to Lviv we will all fight, and that includes the players.
“Everyone will take hold of a gun. We will fight to the end. Putin will regret he ever invaded.”
LVIV ATTACKED
A couple of days after we spoke, war did indeed come to Lviv when four cruise missiles each carrying a 400kg conventional warhead slammed into the city’s airport just a few miles from the training ground.
The frontline which would involve players taking up arms may not yet have reached the west of Ukraine, but Lviv still feels like a city at war.
Downstairs in the deserted canteen, centre-half Bilyi talks with an admirable modesty that not all footballers are blessed with.
He acknowledges how the hero worship of fans now counts for nothing and that he and his team-mates are no different to anyone else in a country of 44 million heroes.
He said: “Footballers are heroes all over the world because they score goals and win matches. But that is no longer the case in Ukraine.
“We are no longer the heroes. Soldiers are the heroes and the ordinary people helping refugees and volunteering for the military.
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“We are just like everyone else. We are helping the refugees and we will pick up a gun if we have to.
“We stand together with all our fans and everyone else in Ukraine. We are all the same.”
The city of Lviv was attacked by Russian missiles as the war continuesCredit: AFP More