Interview of Professor Surgeon Mykola Korpan of Rudolfinerhaus Austrian Clinic to Interfax-Ukraine agency.

According to Viktor Shokin, he was probably poisoned in Greece. Why couldn't the fact poisoning be detected there?

Typically, all doctors first take general and advanced blood tests. However, these tests do not include such rare studies as, for example, studies regarding dioxin or heavy metals. When Viktor Shokin was admitted to our clinic, we saw that his general condition was deteriorating more and more, and various organ functions were failing. Therefore, we had not only to do an advanced blood test but also to determine the level of heavy metals in his blood, including lead and mercury. And we got it – among these heavy metals we found mercury.

How critical was Shokin's condition when he was admitted to your clinic?

Blood counts were extremely poor. Regardless of the therapy we started, they entered a so-called pathological condition called anemia in medicine. The anemia was severe. It is not the case when just one indicator goes down or up, but rather it was a critical condition of anemia. And it was documented by the laboratories of Rudolfinerhaus clinic in Vienna.

Later, liver and kidney dysfunction began. Liver and renal failure began to develop. And this, in the end, can lead to death. Shokin survived three heart attacks. At the first stage, we state that the first attack was on the heart muscle. Later the intoxication continued, and the body resisted. Still, at the same time, the heart muscle did not withstand the second attack, so there was the second cardiac arrest.

And, for the third time, when failure of such vital organs as the liver and kidneys began to develop, he suffered the third heart attack.

You stated that the mercury content led to Viktor Shokin's several cardiac arrests and further health problems. How much mercury was in Shokin's body?

When Viktor Shokin approached us, the level of mercury in his blood was 9.7 units. The acceptable dose is 0, and the maximum upper limit is 2. That is five, almost five times more than the allowable level of mercury in the blood.

9.7 is a lethal dose. Then there was a decrease; we conducted intensive treatment and the level went down to 8, and then – down to 7 and so on. The last recorded level of mercury in Shokin's blood approaches the upper limit of the norm. However, still, it is twice the norm, even though intensive treatment is being carried out.

Did the Shokin's poisoning lead to any other consequences?

Shokin survived three heart attacks. And you know, there are not many such cases in history – these are miraculous cases. But Shokin survived it and came out of this deadly situation due to two significant factors. The first factor is that in the past he was an athlete, his body was healthy, his heart muscle worked, his liver and his kidneys worked also. And second – doctors intervened in time.

Could mercury get into the body naturally or at home?

Such a high level of mercury in the blood, which is a lethal dose to the human body, can only be obtained artificially. I cannot say how or under what circumstances the mercury was introduced into his body.

He could get this dose in a day, he could get it in a week, and he could get it, say, breathing with mercury vapor – during a month. He could be in some enclosed space, such as a room, bedroom, office, in a car – where he received this dose of mercury gradually, as it accumulated. Then, the deadly, maximum dose of mercury reached its peak, and we can see it in the heart muscle, which failed at that time.

Our therapy was aimed at the elimination of toxin. The introduced antidote bound the chemical particles of mercury, and the reverse process began. In essence, the level of mercury began to decrease.

In this case, we are dealing with ten units, that is five times higher than the maximum allowable dose of mercury in the human body. In everyday life, a person cannot receive such a dose. The person ought to, I do not know, ate some mercury-containing product every day. If the person ate, let's say 20 kg of pike a day, then the level of mercury could be raised two, three times. But not more.

Also, poison or medication causes not only a local effect, such as deterioration or improvement of the liver function but can also cause disruption of the whole body. In particular, we have seen not just a malfunction of one organ, but multiple failures of different organs.

From your point of view, was it a single mercury poisoning or a gradual one?

It is difficult to say. It all depends on the dose. We cannot say how he got it – either once, or inhaled it gradually, or if the source of mercury was placed somewhere and he inhaled it constantly, for example in a car or in a bedroom. We know that covert listening devices can be placed in the most protected offices. Perhaps such doses of mercury were put in several places, and evaporation took place. He came in, inhaled, did not notice it, came again, inhaled again, and so on. And later, this dose reached such a level that began to produce results. Now, this is not my question as to in what manner and how long the mercury accumulation in Shokin's body took place.