The official complained of stomach pains as his motorcade was heading back to the Chechen capital, and was rushed forthwith to the main military base in Khankala, where he underwent surgery.
As a duty officer with the Emergency Situation Ministry Sergei Kozhemyaka told the press, one theory was that poison was slipped into something Popov ate or drank during the ceremony. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing a military source, said early evidence suggested that spoiled curd cheese may have been the cause. Though initial reports blamed his illness on food poisoning, Popov was the only one to complain of pains after the dinner.
Later a deputy to Anatoly Popov Alexander Andronov confirmed to the press that poison residue had been found in his blood. A criminal investigation into the murder attempt has been launched by republican prosecutors.
“The diagnosis is poisoning by a substance of unknown origin,” the Chechen government’s press-service said on Sunday. Popov is not standing for theChechen presidency, which led some observers to assume that the attempt on his life was rather a symbolic gesture, apparently by the rebels, seeking to disprove Moscow’s allegations that it has full control over the situation in Chechnya, rather than an action aimed at murdering the official.
Popov, 43, was named prime minister in February. He is temporarily serving as Chechnya's acting president while his boss, Akhmad Kadyrov, campaigns for the October election. Kadyrov, a figure largely unpopular in the republic, is, nonetheless, a heavy favourite after his main rivals in the contest have either been forced to withdraw or were disqualified by the court.
Two challengers once viewed as a serious electoral threat to him were declared out of the race earlier this month. One, a Moscow-based entrepreneur Malik Saidullayev, was disqualified by the court on a technicality, the other, Chechnya's local member of the Russian national parliament Alsambek Aslakhanov, was given a Kremlin job as an adviser.
The election is a key part of Putin's plan to entrench Chechnya within Russia, end a decade of violence and discredit the separatists who ran the region for three years until Moscow dispatched tens of thousands of troops to the region in 1999. Although Moscow says it now controls Chechnya, armed rebels who subject Russian forces to daily attacks reject the poll as meaningless and have pledged to disrupt it.
If perpetrated by rebels, the attempt on Popov may appear to mark the Chechen rebels' first successful use of poison to attack a Russian official. Poisoning has, until now, been a favourite assassination tool of the Russian secret services in Chechnya. The prominent fundamentalist rebel Khattab was killed last year by the Russian secret services in a special operation that involved a messenger being sent to him with a poisoned letter. The Saudi-born warlord died days later.
Popov, currently in the Central Clinic in Moscow, told Interfax on Monday that his condition is stable. He thanked Grozny and Rostov physicians and said, "The doctors in Moscow have fully confirmed their recommendations. It was at the demand of Rostov and Chechen physicians that I came to Moscow."
Popov said he spoke to key ministers of the Chechen government by telephone on Monday. "The situation in the republic is under full control," he said. The minister told Interfax that he had been poisoned. "An investigation will show whether it was deliberate or not," he remarked.
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