Current Headlines

There is a great deal of intrigue, speculation and facts in the media. In this post, I will try to provide a characterization of this work, research and opinion.

Russian FSB’s named MI6 ‘Russian recruit’ accuses late Litvinenko of preparations to murder Putin AXIS Information and Analysis quotes ex-FSB agent Vyacheslav Zharko as saying that Alexander Litvinenko planned the murder of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and had been preparing for a series of acts of terrorism, one of which "would shake all Russia and the whole world".

J'Accuse! Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko, write in their commentary to The Wall Street Journal, that the poisoning of Alexander (Sasha) Litvinenko in London last November revealed the old monster of the Soviet "evil empire" behind the benevolent façade of a new Russia. I suspect there is no coincidence to the fact that US President George W. Bush has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin, to Maine, next week for talks. Mr. Goldfarb and Ms. Litvinenko are the authors of "Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the return of the KGB," published by Free Press.

Former FSB officer: Litvinenko’s murder was ordered by Russian First Vice Premier Evgenie Lymarev, in an report in AXIS Information and Analysis, blames the First Vice-Premier of the Russian government, and possible successor of the current Russian President, Sergei Ivanov for the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko. Lymarev claims that the crime was organized and carried out at a clan level. He stressed that Sergei Ivanov, organizes one of the most powerful clans of the FSB and SVR, Foreign Intelligence Service, and that the executors were former Spetsnaz members to give no reason blaming the Russian state for the killing.

Russian who saw poisoned Litvinenko in London says he himself is still alive AXIS Information and Analysis reports that Vyacheslav Sokolenko, responded to remarks of Boris Berezovsky, that he already is not alive, according to news agency ITAR-TASS reports today. Sokolenko met with journalists in Moscow today and announced he was alive, was well and everything was ok with his health. Sokolenko denied claims that he was the "third man" at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel meeting on 1 November, 2006 in London after which Litvinenko fall fatally ill. However, he admitted that he had been staying at the hotel at the time. Sokolenko later said he had gone to the hotel where Lugovoy and Kovtun had their meeting with Litvinenko on 1 November and only fleetingly greeted Litvinenko.

Current Headlines 12 of 12

There is a great deal of intrigue, speculation and facts in the media. In this post, I will try to provide a characterization of this work, research and opinion.

Lugovoy Accuses MI6, Berezovsky, Russian Mafia of Poisoning Alexander Litvinenko Charles Ganske, Real Russia Project, revisits the Andrei Lugovoi interview, and provides links to support some of the accusations.

Police Seize Drafts of Books on Putin Douglas Birch, Breibart, reported that Russian journalist, Vladimir Pribylovsky, said law enforcement officials searched his apartment and carted off computers that contained draft chapters of two books he was writing about President Vladimir Putin. Pribylovsky has been working with Yuri Felshtinsky, a historian and author living in the United States. The working titles for the books are "Putin's Comrades," and "Operation Successor." Felshtinsky co-authored a book, "Blowing Up Russia," with Alexander Litvinenko.

Lavrov Says Britain Politicizing Litvinenko Case, HULIQ is quoting Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, as saying that "instead of a professional inquiry, we're seeing an attempt to turn the criminal case into some sort of a political campaign."

Russia says Litvinenko visited Chechnya to kill for Berezovsky Russian News & Information Agency NOVOSIT quotes a senior Russian official, who said there is strong evidence that Alexander Litvinenko visited Chechnya to eliminate witnesses linking tycoon Boris Berezovsky to terrorist warlord Shamil Basayev.

British secret service involved in Litvinenko killing, says suspect The Times Online, Nico Hine's article provides links to multimedia, background and related links on the latest Lugovoi interview, including Richard Beeston's Times Online article, Claim by Claim: Lugovoy's Theories examined.

Britain Rejects Chaika's Lugovoi Offer Jim Heintz, in The Moscow Times reports that Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika's offer to prosecute Andrei Lugovoi in Russia, was rejected by British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith.

Litvinenko `Rebellion' Poses Awkward Questions: Cannes Roundup Bloomberg film critic, Iain Millar, writes that filmmaker Andrey Nekrasov made a powerful and incendiary intervention on behalf of his late friend Alexander Litvinenko, when his documentary "Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case" screened yesterday at the 60th Cannes Film Festival.

Litvinenko film maker's Finland home burgled Reuters reports on a break-in at the Finnish holiday home of Russian movie director Andrei Nekrasov, whose documentary on murdered Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko was shown at Cannes film festival.

Russia and the rule of law: Poisoning case underscores Europe's doubts International Herald Tribune's Steven Lee Myers writes an excellent essay on Vladimir Putin's Russia. If recent history is any guide, Russia will not fare well, and the consequences could be profound, deepening the political, diplomatic and social rift between Russia and its European neighbors. In proceeding after proceeding, Russia's actions have withered under the scrutiny of international justice. As a result, the very concepts of law and justice have become touchstones for larger fears about how Putin amasses and uses power, and whether he is returning Russia to habits that brought Europe grief in the past.

The amorality of the Putin regime, Jim Hoagland, Washington Post Writers Group, writes that Russia's refusal to extradite the prime suspect in the polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London last November reveals the essential amorality of the Putin regime and its false narrative of recent history.

I Spied for Britan But You Have Abandonded Me David Paul, Daily Express, reports that the fugitive, former KGB double agent in hiding, in Britain, Victor Makarov, tells how he fears being the next target for assassins who poisoned defector Alexander Litvinenko.

Death of a dissident: Moscow's murky assassins Diplomatic Editor Anne Penketh, Daily Independent, reminds us that Russia's sinister spies are back in the spotlight, but suggests that they never really left us.

Andrei Lugovoy WANTED for MURDER

CPS announces decision on Alexander Litvinenko case May 22, 2007, The Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, QC, announced that the Crown Prosecution Service has made its decision in the Alexander Litvinenko case.

Lugovoy a "walking time bomb" Reuters Mark Trevelyan quotes Alex Goldfarb, "Lugovoy will probably show up dead very shortly," Goldfarb told Reuters. "If he talks -- and he understands that he is a walking time bomb for the Russian government -- then it will be really bad. I would be very much surprised if he lives long."

Britain, Russia square off in spy case Paul Reynolds, BBC News, describes the extradition process, then interviews Martin Sixsmith, who puts the whole situation in perspective, "You have to see this whole thing as part of the war between President Putin and his supporters and their opponents, which has burst into the open."

Litvinenko Killed by Lugovoy, Britain’s Investigators Said Kommersant questions why the second suspect, Dmitry Kovtum, was not charged with murder.

Ex-KGB Agent Accused in Litvinenko Death Tariq Panja, Breitbart, quotes Andrei Lugovoy, "I consider that this decision to be political, I did not kill Litvinenko, I have no relation to his death and I can only express well-founded distrust for the so-called basis of proof collected by British judicial officials. Moreover, there has never been either objective or subjective motives for committing what London is charging me with."


Britain demands Litvinenko handover PerthNow's Mark Trevelyan and Peter Graff report that Britain's Foreign Office summoned the Russian ambassador and told him in strong terms it expected “full cooperation” over Lugovoy's case but Russia's Prosecutor-General office said the constitution prevented it from extraditing Russian citizens. They're calling this an “extraordinarily grave crime”.

Mysterious Personage in Litvinenko's Case AXIS Information and Analysis, credits information received from a former employee of the Russian Public TV (ORT), assisting AIA to fill in a series of lacunas in biography of one of the main and the most mysterious personages of Alexander Litvinenko’s case, Andrei Lugovoy.




Memorandum of understanding on co-operation between the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation and the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales Signed November 15, 2006 by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Alexander Zvyagintsev-Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, and the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, Ken Macdonald QC-Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales.

Timeline in Poisoning of Ex-KGB Agent Breibart provides a comprehensive time line of the period November 1, 2006 through today, May 22, 2007 when Andrei Lugovoy was named as the murder suspect.

Key figures in the Litvinenko affair USA Today, published a Who's Who in the Case of Alexander Litvinenko. The list includes, Andrei Lugovoy, Dmitry Kovtum, Mario Scaramella, Anna Politkovskaya, Boris Berezovsky, Akhmed Zakayev, and Vladimir Putin.

Russia, Risks and Politics

In Russia almost everything is political and almost everything potentially carries political risk.

This warning pretty much sums up the situation in Putin's Russia. The Kremlin's Hand in The Conference Sector quote comes from a Financial Times article, published in the The Moscow Times. For foreign investors these are rich but dangerous waters. Even large groups are not immune from arbitrary actions, as Royal Dutch Shell found when it was pressed to sell control of the Sakhalin-2 scheme to Gazprom. Even companies not involved in strategic sectors may be hurt in the crossfire. Investors who think they can avoid political risk are fooling themselves. In Russia almost everything is political and almost everything potentially carries political risk.

Current Headlines 10 of 12

There is a great deal of intrigue, speculation and facts in the media. In this post, I will try to provide a characterization of this work, research and opinion.

Russian Executives Skip U.K. Forum After Putin `Ban' (Update 1) Sebastian Alison and Svenja O'Donnell, Bloomberg, report that Russian business leaders, including the head of state oil company OAO Rosneft, pulled out of the annual Russian Economic Forum in London at the last minute, after what one executive called an "unofficial and maybe official ban" by President Vladimir Putin.

The Big Question: Who is Boris Berezovsky, and why does Russia want him back? The Independent, Mary Dejevsky profiles Boris Berezovsky and the politics of political asylum.

Diplomatic chill threatens over anti-Putin 'plot' Sydney Morning Herald's, Terry Macalister, Ian Cobain and Simon Tisdall reported that (1) Russia's ambassador to Britain, Yury Fedotov, warned that bilateral relations would inevitably suffer if prompt action was not taken against Boris Berezovsky; (2) that British authorities had begun a second inquiry into Berezovsky's comments, with the Home Office's border and immigration agency investigating whether they could undermine his refugee status; and (3) The British company Shell put a brave face on a final deal signed on Wednesday to hand over a 50 per cent stake in Sakhalin-2, the world's largest oil and gas export project, to Russia's state-owned gas company Gazprom.

Prosecutors Demand Berezovsky Extradition, Kommersant reports that Russia’s Prosecutor General Office is seeking to extradite Boris Berezovsky from Britain and to strip him of the political refugee status. The respective warrant for Berezovsky’s extradition has been sent already. “I’ve signed today an international warrant raising the issue of Berezovsky extradition and drawing attention that it is inadmissible to use the status and the country of residence as a foothold for provocative actions against Russia,” Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika told Interfax Monday.

Berezovsky Plans Russian Revolution to Oust Putin (Update1)
Russia Assails U.K. `Double Standards' on Berezovsky (Update2) Henry Meyer, Bloomberg, is chronicling the dialog and posturing between the UK and Russia, over Boris Berezovsky's recent public call for the violent overthrow of President Vladimir Putin.

Russia Charges Exiled Tycoon of Urging Violent Coup Against Putin Kevin Sullivan and Peter Finn, Washington Post, report on Moscow's response to Boris Berezovsky's calling for the violent overthrow of the Putin government.

Number of spies in UK returns to cold war levels Richard Norton-Taylor and Matthew Taylor, Guardian Unlimited report that the number of Russian intelligence agents based in London has reached cold war levels, reflecting the Kremlin's growing interest in London's dissident community, according to British security sources. Counter intelligence officers say there are now 30 agents operating out of the Russian Embassy and trade mission - with the possibility that many more are working undercover for outside agencies across the capital. Sources say the Russians are keeping an eye on technological advances in the UK as well as monitoring senior figures within London's exile community.

'I am plotting a new Russian revolution', Guardian Unlimited, Ian Cobain, Matthew Taylor and Luke Harding report that Boris Berezovsky has told the Guardian he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia's ruling elite.

Litvinenko case witness said he could be detained by German police The Russia News & Information Agency NOVOSTI reports that Russian businessman and former security service agent Dmitry Kovtun said in an interview with Hamburger Abendblatt daily, that he could be detained in Germany if he travels there for questioning, and even extradited to the U.K. where he is considered the main suspect in the murder investigation.

Report: Russian businessman says Litvinenko was 'very nervous' at London meeting The International Herald Tribune reports that Dmitry Kovtun described Alexander Litvinenko as looking "very nervous" when he arrived for a meeting in London last November.

Theory On Litvinenko Polonium Trail AJ Strata in his blog, StrataSphere, presents two separate, but related theories on the Litvinenko assassination. First, Strata skillfully presents a historical perspective of Polonium-210 smuggling through Iran and Turkey. He links previously published sources, including: American Thinker, Edward Jay Epstein, Iran Watch, BBC News, Center for Nonprolifeation Studies, Today's Zaman, Regnum News Agency. The second perspective, credits Crossfile War, with connecting Boris Berezovsky with the Paris Club of Industrial Investors; Chiasso, Switzerland; Knighthood and the Court of St. James; the discovery by British police of traces of polonium-210 in the Mayfair office of Berezovsky; and the liquidation of Alexander Litvienko.