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Poisoned or bribed?
There might be som instances of bribes. Back in the day Nick Griffin of the BNP travelled to Crimea to attend the plebiscite where the Crimeans (alledgedly) voted to join Russia and Griffin declared the election free and fair. There were more European far righters there as well. Were they bribed? Possibly, but I think most of them were just happy to be given some attention.
Poisoned or bribed? Naysayers warn of the dangers of war with Russia but in the real world Russia's military is so powerful its Black Sea fleet is being picked off one by one by a country with no navy.