Mother, daughter return to L.A. after being poisoned in Moscow

Los Angeles Times: “A physician and her adult daughter returned to Los Angeles Wednesday after being poisoned during a trip to Moscow, the latest in a string of Russian poisoning cases that have sparked international intrigue… Marina Kovalevsky, a 49-year-old internist well known in L.A.’s Russian community, and her daughter Yana, 26, were sickened 12 days ago by thallium, an odorless, colorless, toxic chemical element initially suspected in the death of a former Russian spy in London last year. Their plight has roiled the large local community of expatriates from Russia and other former Soviet republics, many of whom say it is difficult to imagine any motive for an attack on the popular doctor or her daughter. ‘Everybody is upset. Everybody is talking about it,’ said West Hollywood resident Irina Mermel, 69, who has known the family more than a decade. At the same time, some familiar with Russian crime said it was hard to think that the poisoning was accidental”