Concerns of American Officials Over the 'Poisoning' of Two Diplomats in Russia

Two American officials who traveled to Russia with diplomatic passports to attend a United Nations conference last year were poisoned with medication, and one of them has been hospitalized. U.S. officials believe these incidents are 'part of a growing pattern of harassment and intimidation against American diplomats in Russia.' Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quoted an informed source stating that the 'administration of drugs' to these two diplomats occurred in November 2015 at the hotel café where they were staying. The U.S. government has 'quietly' protested to Russia regarding these incidents. However, a scuffle between a security officer and an American diplomat outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow in June this year convinced the U.S. that all these incidents are part of a specific behavioral pattern towards its diplomatic staff. The U.S. State Department believes that incidents of harassment and intimidation have been alarmingly high over the past two years. According to American officials, the two diplomats who were poisoned were in St. Petersburg from November 2 to 6, 2015, to attend a UN conference on the international treaty against financial corruption. This was the first instance of U.S. representatives participating in an international conference in Russia after sanctions were imposed by the U.S. and the EU against Moscow for annexing Crimea and intervening in military conflicts in eastern Ukraine. U.S. officials told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that the investigation results indicate that the two American diplomats (a man and a woman) were likely administered drugs at the hotel café in St. Petersburg. One of them, who was severely ill, was transferred to a Western clinic in St. Petersburg, and it was planned to conduct necessary tests to sample the effects of the drug. However, during the tests, 'the clinic's power mysteriously went out,' resulting in a key opportunity to obtain necessary evidence for accurate drug identification being lost. Since the American officials attending this conference were not from high levels of the State Department or the Department of Justice, the U.S. government decided to only protest by sending a note. However, the Russian government requested evidence related to the poisoning, which the U.S. did not possess. The final response from the Russian government was that without this evidence, they could not take any action. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to inquiries from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for clarification on this matter. Poisoning foreign nationals by administering drugs in Russian cafés is not a rare incident and is usually aimed at theft. The U.S. State Department has issued special guidelines for American employees to avoid such incidents. However, examining the poisoning of these two officials shows that it differs from ordinary cases that typically occur in crowded cafés and nightclubs. Harassment and intimidation of American diplomats and journalists is not a new issue and dates back to the Cold War. However, it seems that in recent years, even before the deterioration of relations between Moscow and Washington over the Ukraine crisis, these incidents have been on the rise. The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. State Department reported in 2013 that 'American employees are under severe pressure from Russian security agencies, and this situation has been unprecedented since the Cold War.' Michael McFaul, the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, referred to multiple instances of state media journalists entering his private meetings and even outside his home, believing that his contacts were monitored and made available to state journalists. A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Moscow announced a few months ago that incidents of harassment against American diplomatic staff have increased. In several cases, water taps in employees' homes have mysteriously been left running, or human feces have been found in their apartments. However, all these incidents have been harassment and trouble, not physical harm. An unnamed U.S. State Department official told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 'Without going into details, we must say that we are concerned about how our employees have been treated in Russia over the past two years. We will pursue each of these cases to the highest legal and diplomatic levels.' In June, in response to U.S. protests regarding the treatment of its diplomats, Russia also complained about the pressure methods applied to its diplomats in the U.S. A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the country is only reciprocating and warned that these actions may escalate.