Former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin claims he survived mercury poisoning in September 2019.
He felt unwell while on a trip to Greece where he went after his brother died, Shokin told the TSN news service.
"This happened on September 10, 2019. It was in Greece, where I was on a private trip. It wasn't a vacation. Unfortunately, my brother died, and we buried him. After this, you know, no one would really like to have a vacation. But I did want to spend some time on my own. I have very good friends in Greece. I went over to visit them. And on September 10, when I got out of the car, I lost consciousness and fell on the ground. I don't quite remember what happened next, but those who were around later told me that I was very lucky that this happened in that place and at that time. It happened at approximately 11:40, and the hospital was nearby, as well as the ambulance and great professionals," Shokiin said.
The former PG added he had suffered two cardiac arrests, could not walk, so he had to learn to walk again.
"According to the conclusion of the Greek clinic, where I was first admitted at intensive care, I had two cardiac arrests. In order to revive me, defibrillators were used in intensive care. Then I spent eight days there before being transferred to the ward. I couldn't walk, so I had to learn to walk there again," he said.
Read alsoUkrainian prosecutor comments on Yovanovitch surveillance allegations
The ex-official says he was discharged from hospital on September 20 and that he arrived in Kyiv on September 22.
"There was a need to continue treatment in order to return to normal life. They advised me to go to a clinic in Vienna. When I arrived in Vienna on October 9, 2019, I went to Nikolai Nikolaevich Korpan, a physician. He told me about [former president of Ukraine Viktor] Yushchenko and that he actually took part in curing him [Yushchenko had been poisoned]," said Shokin.
According to the former head of the Prosecutor General, he suffered mercury poisoning.
"On October 11, a doctor came to me and asked me: 'Are you aware that you have mercury in you?' "The findings indicate that mercury content in my body is 9.7%, that is, five times over the maximum limit. Then I found out that the methods of mercury poisoning vary greatly – they can poison you with mercury vapor, and there are other ways. As my friends at the SBU told me, this poisoning method is somewhat outdated, but it is sometimes used," he said.
Shokin suggests "there is a possibility of Biden's involvement" in his poisoning.
"I have no obvious enemies, of whom I'm positively aware that they are my enemies. Of course, one of the versions – although this version requires probing – is that there's a possibility of [Joe] Biden’s involvement in all of this in some way. I officially contacted the Greek law enforcement on this matter – they have my official statement as I asked them to investigate. As far as I know, a criminal case has been opened and is being investigated, but this is just my information. Officially, I haven't received a response, although I contacted them quite a while ago regarding the launch of criminal proceedings in connection with my premeditated murder [attempt]," he said.
Earlier, Rudy Giuliani, U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, spoke about the alleged assassination attempt on Viktor Shokin and called the latter one of the main witnesses in the U.S. internal political confrontation.