Russia murders dissidents
Alexander Litvinenko was a one-time officer in the Russian FSB, successor to the KGB intelligence service. His task there was dealing with organized crime. He died in London on November 23rd, 2006, having been poisoned by Kremlin agents with radioactive polonium-210.
What aroused Vladimir Putin’s anger was that Litvinenko had identified links between the Russian hierarchy and organized crime. He coined the term ‘Mafia state,’ and went public at a Moscow press conference with details of officially ordered or sanctioned murders of political dissidents and reporters.
He was dismissed from the FSB on Putin’s orders, and put on trial for “exceeding the authority of his position.” He was acquitted, and fled to Britain vis Turkey with his family before new charges could be brought against hm. In the UK he became a writer and a journalist, and also, according to his widow, worked as a consultant with MI5 and MI6, helping them combat Russian organized crime in Europe. He became a UK citizen.
On the day he fell ill, Litvinenko had met another former Russian agent, Dmitry Kovtun, who was later found to have left Polonium traces in both the house and the car he had recently used in Hamburg. After Litvinenko’s death, a British murder enquiry identified Andrey Lugovoy, a former member of Russia's Federal Protective Service, as the prime suspect. The United Kingdom demanded that he be extradited to face trial, but this was denied, as Russia does not extradite its citizens.
A further British enquiry concluded in 2016 that he had been murdered by the Russian FSB, probably with the approval of Vladimir Putin himself, and Nikolai Patrushev, at the time FSB Director. His widow confirmed that her late husband had provided useful information to MI6 about senior Kremlin figures and their links with organized crime.
There are obvious parallels with the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March, 2018, in Salisbury. Skripal had worked with UK intelligence as a double agent until he was caught and sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony. He came to the UK after a spy swap, and took British citizenship, He and his daughter were critically ill, but recovered after intensive care. The nerve agent Novichok was identified as the toxin. Two Britons later became seriously ill, and one died, after they picked up the discarded scent spray that had been used in the attack.
The UK identified the two people who had carried out the Salisbury attack, and was supported by 28 countries when it announced punitive measures against Russia. A total of 153 Russian diplomats were expelled. The culprits were identified as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Dr. Alexander Mishkin, both ranking officers in the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence. The operation was almost certainly sanctioned by Putin himself. They appeared in a laughably inept interview on Russian TV, talking of the wonders of Salisbury Cathedral, which they claim they had just visited as tourists.
Two facts are significant about both poisonings. In both cases the victims had already revealed all they knew. They were targeted in revenge attacks, and in both cases an exotic poison was used that could only have originated from Russia. Russia is telling the world that it has the ability and the resolve to kill anyone who it feels has acted against it. It further lets the world know that it can do this with relative impunity.
The incidents expose Putin as a thug and a bully, and someone not to be trusted. It might be appropriate for him to be tried in absentia in a public trial for these murders and attempted murders. Witnesses could be called upon to testify, and a verdict reached that would show the world what he is, and give some small satisfaction to the relatives of his victims.