2022 Poisonings of Speke Government Officials

The 2022 Poisonings of Speke Government Officials are a series of poisonings that occurred from the 10th of May 2022, to the present day.

Background

On the 9th of May 2022, Speke's Foreign Minister, Serhii Viktorovich Mukhin, held a speech in public condemning Sinpo's use of capital punishment on the 8th of May 2022 to execute Hyong Son Pyo.

We believe that treason is infact criminal, however overthrowing or trying to overthrow a dictatorship is one step towards a better world if it succeeds. Keeping capital punishment is a step away from a better world, violating human morals & human rights. We strongly condemn SPR's use of capital punishment and its human rights abuses.

Timeline of Events

10 May 2022

Speke's Foreign Minister, Serhii Viktorovich Mukhin, was admitted to Sczesczołiszin Hospital where medical staff confirmed that he was poisoned with an unknown nerve agent around midday local time, shortly after eating his breakfast/lunch, however at the time his whereabouts couldn't be confirmed as Mr. Mukhin was in a coma. Shortly after the events, all government staff were advised not to order food from restaurants or fast food places for the next 48 hours and the risk to the general public was considered "incredibly low" by Speke's Ministry of Defence.

Later on in the day, at around 15:00 local time, the first suspects in the case were identified, a Sinpoin cafe worker where Mr. Mukhin bought his morning breakfast from, and an ex-convict who walked past and looked to sprinkle something into Mr. Mukhin's drink. Both of the suspects were taken into questioning.

11 May 2022

Another poisoning occurred 24 hours after the first one, with Speke's Minister of Defence being the next victim of the attacks. Ivan Skoryk was poisoned with the same nerve agent as Mr. Mukhin was the day earlier, confirmed medical staff at Sczesczołiszin Hospital. Unlike Mr. Mukhin, Ivan did not fall into a coma as the dose of nerve agent he received is suspected to be lower than Mr. Mukhin's. Speke's Ministry of Defence stated that it believes that this is a targeted attack on Speke Government Officials, and advised the public to remain vigilant. The president from this date stated that he won't be making any public appearances within the next few hours for "security reasons".

Later on that day, The individual behind both poisonings was identified and arrested. Han Myong Sin is a Sinpoin national who managed to sneak into the nation. When he was strip searched, which then an aqueous substance and powdered substance, which were sent off to laboratories and were identified as the same nerve agents which poisoned Ivan and Mukhin. Medical staff updated the nation on Ivan's condition which improved, however noted that he will have to stay in the ICU ward for the next few days to monitor his condition. Mr. Mukhin still was in a coma, but his condition remained stable.

12 May 2022

Speke's President gave a speech on solidarity and human rights on television.

Life is a right every human deserves, no matter how horrific their crime is. The Sinpoin breakaway region has taken away human rights from their citizens for many years with the capital punishment as Serhii expressed earlier this week, and now, his life and Ivan's life were almost taken away in an act of terrorism, and possibly altered forever, but hopefully not. We have severed all relations we previously had with the Sinpoin breakaway region and advise other nations to do so in an act of solidarity against their attempts to eradicate the right of free speech in Speke and Anteria.

The move by Speke's president was unofficially condemned by a few nation-states on Anteria.

22 May 2022

Ivan Skoryk, Speke's Minister of Defence & the 2nd victim of the poisonings, was discharged from hospital after blood tests showed that he had no detectable nerve agent left in his blood, along with not showing any symptoms in the past 5 days. It is thought that Mr. Mukhin received a dose ~20x higher than Skoryk, and still remains in a coma. Mr. Mukhin had ultrasounds done that show extremely minimal internal damage in the body. Doctors expect Mr. Mukhin's condition to improve in the next few days as the concentration of nerve agent in his blood is starting to reach that of Skoryk's on admission, however they are still researching this specific nerve agent.