A Ukrainian-born deliveryman has been accused of attempting to poison the graduates of a Russian military aviation academy during their reunion, Russia’s Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Around 77 alumni of the Armavir Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region were attending a 20-year reunion party at a restaurant on Saturday when Yegor Semyonov reportedly delivered a 20-kilogram cake and several boxes of Jameson whiskey, saying they were gifts from an alumnus who was unable to come to the party.
Kommersant said the reunion attendees were suspicious of the cake and whiskey and reported the gifts to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), which uncovered traces of poison and now suspects its Ukrainian counterpart, the SBU, to have organized an attempted assassination.
Semyonov is said to have been born in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which Russian forces captured early in their 2022 invasion, and in recent years he has lived outside Moscow.
The Armavir City Court found Semyonov guilty of petty hooliganism and sentenced him to 15 days in prison. Kommersant did not specify whether that sentence was related to the alleged poisoning attempt.
Semyonov could face terrorism charges in connection with the poisoning attempt after serving the 15-day sentence, according to law enforcement sources cited by Kommersant.
The aviation school in Krasnodar, its professors and alumni declined to comment on the story, according to the outlet.
