Despite the fact that four of her colleagues died after being poisoned as a result of the reporting they published, Russian journalist-in-exile Olena Kostyuchenko never thought she might become a victim until she suddenly became ill while on board a train bound for Berlin. Reuters reports.

“When you work as an investigative journalist in Russia, you are always on the lookout. You have many protocols that you follow at all times. But when I came to Europe, I completely forgot about all these security measures,” she said in an interview with Reuters.

Earlier in August, German prosecutors began an investigation into whether Kostyuchenko, who is now in hiding, was the victim of an assassination attempt when he fell ill last October.

Her symptoms began with a state of disorientation and abdominal pain that occurred while she was traveling by train from Munich to Berlin. The symptoms persisted for several weeks, but by the time Kostyuchenko realized he might have been poisoned, he was too old to identify the toxins that had been used.

“I had to take my rings off because my fingers were like sausages,” she said of the new symptom.

A few months later, she says she still feels exhausted and can only work 3 hours a day.

The journalist recalls the position of Vladimir Putin, according to which traitors cannot be forgiven

Previously, enemies of Russian President Vladimir Putin were poisoned, even if they lived abroad. The most famous, perhaps, are the cases of former double agents Sergei Skripal and Oleksandr Litvinenko. Skripal survived the attempt, but Lytvynenko was not so lucky.

Another case that has sparked outrage in Germany concerns a former Chechen rebel who died in Berlin in an assassination that German justice ruled was ordered by Russia.

The Kremlin denies its involvement in these crimes.

“They coincide with Putin’s speech that we cannot forgive traitors,” says Kostyuchenko. “But I never worked with the special services… For some reason I thought I was safe in Europe,” she says.

Correspondent Kostyuchenko, who has written about war crimes attributed to the Russian military in Ukraine, says she realized her mistake after doctors told her she was likely the victim of poisoning. At first he laughed. Then he realized his mistakes.

Among them was a discussion on Facebook Messenger specifically about the trip he was planning to Berlin, departing from Munich.

She is believed to be one of a group of three Russian freelance journalists recently poisoned abroad. All three suffered from similar symptoms.

“We can confirm that the investigation into the attempted murder of Olena Kostyuchenko is ongoing,” said a spokesman for the Berlin prosecutor’s office last Friday.