NEWS: Former KGB Spy Blames Death on Russia

POLITICS: Former KGB Spy Blames Death on Russia

Enacting what appeared to be a poorly written scene from a late night Showtime made-for-TV spy movie, former KGB spy Alexander Litvenko blamed mother Russia for his radiation poisoning that subsequently led to his death.

While his words may have been poorly chosen, it should not diminish the seriousness of his allegations. Litvinenko has been an avid critic of post-Communist Russian policy, and specifically the apparatus left over from the remains of his former agency, the KGB. And who was former director of the KGB? None other than Vladimir Putin, the west's friendly neighbor and ally who has been responsible for brutal human rights violations in Chechnya, as well as crackdowns on dissidents and even what many believe to be the framing of political rival and oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Would someone capable of all this be willing to poison and murder a former agent who spoke out against Putin and his activities? It doesn't seem like much of a stretch.

This is not all the suprising to me, as former members of the KGB in both Russia and former S.S.R.'s (in particular, Bulgaria) have used these methods to dispense with ex-patriot critics at least three times in the last twenty years. Two in Britain, the other failed attempt being made in France.

What all three had in common was unexplaiined radiation poisoning. The one survivor said that someone bruhed up against him in a train startion and injected him with something. After the Police figured out that he wasn't delusional, and that he was indeed suffering from radiation poisoning, they examined his body and found a microscopic pellet with two holes and a holding chamber in it. It was presumed that the radioactive material in question was held within, releasing itself into the body after it had warmed-up enough for the Advil-like coating on it to melt. They deduced that the reason he survived was that it was exceptionally cold that day, and the injector didn't make it through his layers of clothing as expected, therefore, the pellet did not make it as far into his body as intended.

If you follow this story, don't be suprised if, eventually, you hear this brought up again. Gotta love the ingenuity of the Soviet mindset.

The method used is very interesting. Radioactive poisoning puts the FSB (the new KGB) firmly in the frame. If they'd wanted a quiet job they could have stabbed him and taken his wallet. Instead we've had a week of deathbed comments and well founded accusations.

They've been a bit too clever this time. The man was killed with the rare radioactive isotype, polonium 210. The advantage of this poison is that it is easy to transport - it only emits alpha rays, and although it needs special equipment to handle it, a glass container is sufficient shielding for transportation purposes. Polonium is only lethal if ingested or injected into the body BUT it is incredibly toxic, and death is the likely outcome once it is in the body. So it can be brought into the country without detection, used to poison someone, and medical intervention will be difficult if not impossible. Very often, the cause of death will not be determined.

It's an ideal assassination weapon, except for its rarity. Polonium 210 is produced from radioactive waste, and needs a certain level of technology to manufacture it safely. In practice, therefore, its possession is limited to nuclear powers, although it is available commercially from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA. Now if someone had stabbed Litvinenko, as quagmirething says, it could have been a mugging. As it is, it looks like the agents of a government, and one that is a nuclear power.

Whoever did it (my bets on Russia) they certainly wanted it to be highly publicized.

how do you figure? he was slowly poisoned by something that could not be traced in his blood..

I doubt they wanted or cared if it was a quiet job. You can hurl all the accusations towards Putin that you want, but how can you prove it? Furthermore, who's going to do anything about it? While I do believe the accusations could very well be true, from a public standpoint it's easy enough for Putin and his people to dismiss the as the destressed ravings of a dying man. Perhaps they wanted to make an example out of Litvinenko.

Not necessary, according to the Guardian, who say that it is manufactured for use by industrial plants to prevent the build up of static electricity.

The plot thickens now that the Brits have traced the path of the poison to several Beoing 767aircraft that all made recent flights out of Moskow.

So the cat is most def out of the bag, and Putin has gotta be a bit red-faced. I cannot imagine that this is how they wanted the gig to go down.

But this certainly has a chilling effect on others whom the Kermlin wants to keep quiet: "Shut your mouth or you'll end up with a very, very bad case of radiation poisoning."

Marie Curie won one of her two nobel prizes for discovering Polonium (it's named after her native Poland). I blame her.