ロシアの毒（薬） mystery leaves two American women in Moscow hospital

By DAVID GARDNER

Last updated at 19:48 06 March 2007

Two American women are fighting for their lives in a Moscow hospital after 存在毒（薬）d by a deadly toxin 伝統的に used by 暗殺者s.

There was no 指示，表示する物 whether the mother and daughter had any 商売／仕事 or political 利益／興味s in Russia that could have 誘発するd 報復.

But 恐れるs that there may be a 悪意のある動機 behind the 出来事/事件 grew after it was 明らかにする／漏らすd that the women had ingested thallium, the

いわゆる "poisoner’s 毒（薬）".

Marina Kovalenskaya, 49, and her daughter, Yana, 26, were in Moscow for a family wedding when they fell mysteriously ill ten days ago. Both

women were ロシアの-born American 国民s.

詳細（に述べる）s of the 毒（薬）ing 現れるd after a 一連の怪しげな deaths that have led to （人命などを）奪う，主張するs that the ロシアの当局 have 開始する，打ち上げるd a

murderous （選挙などの）運動をする to silence critics.

ロシアの軍の特派員 Ivan Safronov died in 怪しげな circumstances after 落ちるing from a fifth-storey window at the 週末,

Just days before his death, the 高度に尊敬（する）・点d Safronov was 調査（する）ing 極度の慎重さを要する取引，協定s to sell ロシアの武器 to Iran and Syria.

And Paul Joyal, an outspoken critic of the ロシアの政府, was 発射 dead in an 明らかな強盗近づく his Washington home last week. Joyal was a friend of former 国家保安委員会スパイ／執行官 Alexander Litvenko, who was 毒（薬）d last year at a London hotel.

Yesterday, a US 明言する／公表する Department 報告（する）／憶測（人命などを）奪う，主張するd Russia’s human 権利s 記録，記録的な／記録する has 悪化するd over the last year as 大統領 Vladimir Putin's 政府 centralised 力／強力にする, 制限するd 解放する／自由な speech and killed 非軍事のs in and around Chechnya.

The 報告（する）／憶測選び出す／独身d out 非常に／多数の政治上動機づけるd 殺人，大当りs 含むing those of a central 銀行業者 and investigative 新聞記者／雑誌記者, though it did not 告発する／非難する the 政府 of 関与.

The 毒（薬）d women’s 条件 was 述べるd as "medium serious" last night as police in Moscow visited cafes and restaurants in the area of the hotel where they had been staying.

Thallium is colorless, odorless and deadly in doses as small as 0.04 ounces (1.13 grams), giving it a 評判 as a 毒（薬） of choice for

暗殺者s.

It was 最初嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd to be the toxin used in the Litvinenko 毒（薬）ing, but it was later 決定するd he had ingested the rare 放射性の isotope polonium-210.

Thallium 作品 by knocking out the 団体／死体's 供給（する） of potassium, 必須の for healthy 独房s, attacking the nervous system, the stomach and 腎臓s.

Its 影響s are not すぐに noticeable and frequently take weeks to kick in; symptoms 含む hair loss and a 燃やすing sensation in extremities.

Thallium was used by Saddam Hussein, who 毒（薬）d several of his Iraqi 対抗者s. It also 報道によれば was considered by the 中央情報局 for use against Fidel Castro, かもしれない by putting thallium 砕く in his shoes to 誘発する loss of his trademark 耐えるd.