Vladimir Saldo, the quisling governor of Russia-occupied Kherson Oblast, has reportedly been taken to the toxicological department of the Moscow Sklifasovsky Institute in a medical coma, Russian media report, citing the Telegram channels Baza and Mash.
He is in serious condition in intensive care, Baza says, citing its sources. The Telegram channel reports that the collaborator was flown in by a special plane from Crimea on 6 August, where he was reportedly hospitalized the previous day.
The toxicological intensive care unit of the institute is reserved for patients who have been poisoned by various chemicals when an emergency detoxification of the body is needed. It is the only chemical-toxicological laboratory in Moscow with high-precision equipment that allows determining poisoning substances, Baza wrote.
Poisoning was already suspected in a hospital in Simferopol, occupied Crimea, where Saldo was taken to from occupied Kherson Oblast.
The day before, Kirill Stremousov, another quisling official and Saldo’s deputy, denied that his boss was a coma, saying that the illness was the result of “psychological and physical stress.” He later slammed the news reports about Saldo, saying that “rumors about Vladimir Saldo’s coma are direct participation in the war on the side of the enemy.”
Notably, Russia prohibits Russians from calling its war against Russia a war; officially, it is termed a “special military operation.” Violating the state-prescribed language is deemed an administrative offense.
Mash, another Russian TG channel, wrote, citing its sources, that Saldo’s supposed diagnosis is “poisoning with an unknown substance; other options include encephalopathy of unknown origin.” The Russian occupation collaborator is hooked up to a lung ventilator, and, according to the channel, is getting better and wakes up occasionally. Saldo arrived to the clinic at 2:20 am on 6 August, no one is allowed into his room, the TG channel adds.
