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Real Life Spy Thriller in London
I have to admit, I hadn't been following this story until yesterday, but what a story it is.
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| LONDON, England (AP) -- The grave health condition of a poisoned ex-Russian spy deteriorated dramatically Thursday as heart failure left Alexander Litvinenko on life support and sent family members rushing to his bedside. Litvinenko, a fierce critic of the Russian government, remains under heavy sedation, a family friend said, as doctors struggled to determine what sickened the 43-year-old. Doctors have virtually ruled out thallium and radiation -- toxins once considered possible culprits behind the poisoning. "Despite extensive tests, we are still unclear as to the cause of his condition," said Dr. Geoff Bellingan, director of critical care at University College Hospital. Litvinenko believes he was given poison on November 1, while investigating the slaying of another Kremlin detractor -- investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. His hair has fallen out, his throat is swollen and his immune and nervous systems have been damaged. A friend, Andrei Nekrasov, said Litvinenko's skin had turned yellow, a possible effect of liver failure. Another family friend, Alex Goldfarb, joined Litvinenko's wife Marina, his son Anatoli and the former agent's father by his bedside. "He went into a cardiac failure overnight and the hospital put him on artificial heart support," Goldfarb said. "He's on the ventilator, he's getting artificial resuscitation." Anti-terrorist police were investigating the poisoning, which friends and dissidents allege was carried out at the behest of the Russian government. Litvinenko sought asylum in Britain in 2000, and has been a relentless critic of the Kremlin and the Russian security services ever since. On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, issued its strongest denial yet that it was involved in any assassination attempt. "Litvinenko is not the kind of person for whose sake we would spoil bilateral relations," SVR spokesman Sergei Ivanov said, according to the Interfax news agency. "It is absolutely not in our interests to be engaged in such activity." Litvinenko worked both for the KGB and for a successor, the Federal Security Service. In 1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky -- now exiled in Britain -- and a year later spent nine months in jail on charges of abuse of office, for which he was later acquitted, and which prompted his move to London. On the day he first felt ill, Litvinenko said he had two meetings. In the morning, he met with an unidentified Russian and with Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB colleague and bodyguard to one-time Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar at a London hotel. Later, he dined with Italian security expert Mario Scaramella to discuss the October murder of Politkovskaya. Scaramella told reporters in Rome on Tuesday that he had traveled to meet Litvinenko to discuss an e-mail he received from a source naming the killers of Politkovskaya, who was gunned down Oct. 7 at her Moscow apartment building, and outlining that he and Litvinenko were on a hit list. Goldfarb said that he had a photocopy of the four-page e-mail and confirmed that it did read like the hit list described by Scaramella. "What's in there confirms what Scaramella said. It lists several targets for assassination, among them are Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Scaramella, Berezovsky and others," he said. But he refused to say who compiled the document, saying that it could jeopardize the police investigation into the poisoning. After visiting the hospital on Thursday, Berezovsky told the AP that British police have yet to speak to him, but hoped they would be in contact over the next two days. The police declined to comment about whether they had the e-mail. Goldfarb said Wednesday that there was nothing out of the ordinary in Litvinenko's meeting with Lugovoy, who also worked as bodyguard to Berezovsky, the most high profile Russian exile in London. Litvinenko has refused to implicate any of the people he met on the day he believes he was poisoned. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
he just kicked it apparently, about two hours ago.
some things never change.
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| Originally posted by Q5echo he just kicked it apparently, about two hours ago. some things never change. |
Poor guy, seems too be a lot of political opponents dropping like rocks and not all that subtle either. Makes me wonder if there isnt a third party out too destabilise the russian government by 'messily' rubbing out its more vocal opponents.
This kinda thing is so eerie. Looks like the KGB are well and truly back and Russia is returning to its days of 'disappearing' political opponents in deepest, darkest, remote Siberia.
Who poisoned the ukrainian president too? This is straight out a spy novel, no doubt.
Reminds me of former CIA DCI Colby who collapsed from a heart attack and drowned.
did you guys know that since Putin took power in 2000 that 13 Russian jounalists have been murdered, and not one case has been solved?
does anyone have any other perspective on this?
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| Originally posted by ogvh5150 Reminds me of former CIA DCI Colby who collapsed from a heart attack and drowned. |
I wonder if anyone has read the book The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. I saw it in a Barnes and Noble store and was wondering if it was a worthwhile read.
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| Originally posted by Q5echo did you guys know that since Putin took power in 2000 that 13 Russian jounalists have been murdered, and not one case has been solved? does anyone have any other perspective on this? |
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| Originally posted by ogvh5150 Reminds me of former CIA DCI Colby who collapsed from a heart attack and drowned. |
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| Originally posted by Q5echo yeah b/c 76 yr. old men never die of heart attacks. |
so the question is... strong Putin > weak Putin?
Russia's experience with privatization and democracy hasn't gone so well. Is a little authoritarian infusion perhaps what they need to get back on track?
Not that I advocate an authoritarian Russia, but the argument can be made.
Seems like the Russian government is hiding something big which should remain secret - by all means.
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| Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov but the argument can be made. |
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| Originally posted by TranceGiant Seems like the Russian government is hiding something big which should remain secret - by all means. |
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| Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ +1, disturbing things are evidently being kept underwraps at whatever costs - and no, this is not CT talk. |
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| Originally posted by metalgearsolid Like what, genome project to create the perfect soldier? |
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| Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_ Don't know if you're being sarcastic or not |
Apparently he was poisoned with polonium-210. That is a creative approach to murder if I do say so myself.
It's also a little exotic for some angry person who doesnt like you very much to go too the effort of obtaining. Indeed the kind of material which youre not likely too find in rat poisons.
Guess the other sure thing about it is, that even if you did live after the doctors where trying too figure out what it is, youre probably not going to live very long.
Least its not likely too be something just lying around you could find anywhere so maybe the security people will have a trail at last.
It certainly suggests an operation that was given considerable planning.
"I would like to thank many people. My doctors, nurses and hospital staff who are doing all they can for me, the British police who are pursuing my case with vigour and professionalism and are watching over me and my family.
I would like to thank the British government for taking me under their care. I am honoured to be a British citizen.
I would like to thank the British public for their messages of support and for the interest they have shown in my plight.
I thank my wife Marina, who has stood by me. My love for her and our son knows no bounds.
But as I lie here I can distinctly hear the beating of wings of the angel of death.
I may be able to give him the slip but I have to say my legs do not run as fast as I would like.
I think, therefore, that this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition.
You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.
You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilised value.
You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilised men and women.
You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life.
May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people."
- Alexander Litvinenko
21 November 2006
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