Blowing up Russia: The Book that Got Litvinenko Murdered

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Boggan, Steve (5 June 2007). "Who else was poisoned by polonium?". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023 . Retrieved 5 June 2006. Gurin, Charles (27 September 2004). "Roman Tsepov, RIP". Eurasia Daily Monitor. The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 . Retrieved 8 December 2006. The men from Moscow were carrying what Kovtun confessed to a friend was “a very expensive poison”. About its properties he knew little. The poison was polonium-210, a rare radioactive isotope, tiny, invisible, undetectable. Ingested, it was fatal. The polonium had originated at a nuclear reactor in the Urals and a production line in the Russian town of Sarov. A secret FSB laboratory, the agency’s “research institute”, then converted it into a dinkily portable weapon. October: Former KGB agent Dmitry Kovtun visits London, during which time he eats two meals with Litvinenko, one of them at the Itsu sushi bar (see 1 November 2006). [132] [152] a b c "The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019 . Retrieved 15 February 2021.

in Russian). svobodanews.ru. 20 November 2006. Archived from the original on 24 February 2008 . Retrieved 24 November 2006. Marina Litvinenko was told by her husband Alexander not to be silent and she has continued to be a prominent Kremlin opponent (Picture: Susannah Ireland) Davies, Andrew (1 December 2006). "Positive radiation test". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009 . Retrieved 2 December 2006.

From among the ranks to battling outside

To start a nuclear war would not be as simple as pushing the button, as the decision involves people and technology, and not everybody is as crazy as Putin. But a wider war that spreads into the Baltic countries would in Putin’s eyes reverse the “catastrophe” of the Soviet Union’s collapse and would be, for him, the best way to be remembered.’

November 23 markedthe 15th anniversary of Alexander Litvinenko's death. He was a spy with the Russian secret services KGB and the FSB before becoming a British citizen and a whistleblower. His case is probably the first known poisoning of a Kremlin critic abroad since the collapse of the Soviet Union. From among the ranks to battling outside He received three and a half years' probation in absentia during his last trial, which was the firstunder Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin. Nearly a decade later, in January of 2016, aBritish judicial inquiry announced its findings. The judge in the case, Robert Owen, said that the murder of the former FSB lieutenant colonel was "probably approved" by Russian President Putin and by the director of the intelligence service, Nikolai Patrushev. British Judge Robert Owen ruled on Litvinenko's death in 2016 Image: Getty Images/J. Stillwell Report". The Litvinenko Inquiry. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017 . Retrieved 21 January 2016.

a b "President Putin 'probably approved Litvinkenko murder' ". BBC News. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021 . Retrieved 21 May 2022. Graphic: Timeline of events around Alexander Litvinenkos death". Telegraph. London. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. London doctor: Radioactive poison may be in ex-Russian spy". USA Today. 21 November 2006 . Retrieved 24 November 2006. Le Figaro» спросила бывшего секретаря Совета безопасности России Александра Лебедя: возможно ли, что Российское правительство организовало террористические акции против своих граждан? «Я в этом почти уверен» — таков был ответ Лебедя." Source: Павел Хлебников. Крёстный отец Кремля Борис Березовский, или история разграбления России. — 2 изд.. — М.: Детектив-пресс, 2004. — 480 с, страницы 366-367 Gardham, Duncan (28 December 2006). "Oil billionaire named in Litvinenko inquiry". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007 . Retrieved 22 May 2010.

In 2000, Litvinenko fled to the United Kingdom and applied for political asylum. Litvinenko became a British MI6 officerin 2004, and also established close ties with Spanish intelligence. He soon sharedinformation about the Russian mafia in Europe, including about its connections to Russian officials. Lakhani, Nina (28 October 2007). "Litvinenko's widow denies claims he was MI6 spy". London: Independent News and Media Limited. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007 . Retrieved 9 March 2008.

Yury Fedotov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation, pointed out that when the Russian Federation ratified the European Convention on Extradition it entered a declaration [81] concerning Article 6 in these terms: "The Russian Federation declares that in accordance with Article 61 (part 1) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, a citizen of the Russian Federation may not be extradited to another state." [82] BBC programme [ edit ] Neuman, Scott (22 September 2021). "Russia Fatally Poisoned A Prominent Defector In London, A Court Concludes". NPR. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022 . Retrieved 14 April 2022. Russia responsible for Litvinenko killing - European court". BBC News. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021 . Retrieved 21 September 2021. November: Scotland Yard announces that traces of polonium-210 have been found in seven different places in London. Among them, an office of the Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, an avowed opponent of Putin.

December: Prosecutor General of Russia Yury Chaika accused Leonid Nevzlin, a former Vice President of Yukos, exiled in Israel and wanted by Russian authorities for a long time, of involvement in the poisoning, a charge dismissed by the latter as a nonsense. [161] Filmmaker and friend of Litvinenko Andrei Nekrasov has suggested that the poison was "sadistically designed to trigger a slow, tortuous and spectacular demise." [111] Expert on Russia Paul Joyal suggested that "A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin.... If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you, and we will silence you, in the most horrible way possible." [112] Russian response [ edit ] Initial public comments [ edit ] General Procurator's office of the Russian Federation filed criminal charges of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, and the attempted murder of Dmitry Kovtuna". Yahoo! AP. 7 December 2006. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007 . Retrieved 8 December 2006.

Russian suspect on 'Magnitsky lists'

Philip Walker, professor of physics at the University of Surrey said: "This seems to have been a substance carefully chosen for its ability to be hard to detect in a person who has ingested it." [108] Oleg Gordievsky, the most senior KGB agent ever to defect to Britain, made a similar comment Anderson, Paul (29 November 2006). "Kildare incident linked to Litvinenko death". The Irish Times . Retrieved 30 November 2006. In September 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found that Russia was responsible for Litvinenko's killing (a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Russia has been a party since 1998). [87] [88] The Court's findings were consistent with those of the UK inquiry; it ruled that it was " beyond reasonable doubt that the assassination had been carried out by" Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun; that there was "prima facie evidence of state involvement" and that there was a "strong" case that the two assassins were acting as agents of the Russian State; and that Russia had failed to investigate the murder or to identify and punish those responsible. [89] [1] [8] The Court drew an adverse inference from Russia's refusal to disclose any documents from its investigation. [1] The Court noted that the "planned and complex operation involving the procurement of a rare deadly poison, the travel arrangements for the pair, and repeated and sustained attempts to administer the poison indicated that Mr Litvinenko had been the target of the operation." [8]