Russia’s Putin probably approved operation to murder Alexander Litvinenko

[snoop1130]

Russia’s Putin probably approved operation to murder Alexander Litvinenko
Euronews



RUSSIA -- President Vladimir Putin probably approved a Russian intelligence operation to murder former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a British inquiry has concluded.

It has also found that there was personal antagonism between the two men and administration members had motives for killing Litvinenko.

The outspoken Putin critic was poisoned with the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210.

It is believed it was in a cup of tea he drank at the Millennium Hotel in London.

The inquiry, led by senior judge Robert Owen, found that former KGB bodyguard and fellow Russian Dmitry Kovtun carried out the poisoning as part of an operation directed by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main heir to the Soviet-era KGB.

“Taking full account of all the evidence and analysis available to me, I find that the FSB operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr Patrushev and also by President Putin,” the inquiry said.

Nikolai Patrushev was formerly head of the FSB.

“I am satisfied that in general terms members of the Putin administration, including the President himself and the FSB, had motives for taking action against Mr Litvinenko, including killing him in late 2006,” the inquiry said.

Lugovoy and Kovtun deny any involvement in Litvinenko’s death and the Kremlin has always done so too.

From his deathbed, Litvinenko told detectives that Putin had directly ordered his killing, a claim Moscow dismissed as ridiculous.

The inquiry findings have been a long time coming for Litvinenko’s family. They have described his death as a “nuclear attack on the streets of London.”

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-21

[clockman]

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

[stoneyboy]

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

And I've been watching the Home Secretary Theresa May spouting off but what if anything will happen,I believe very little.

[RuamRudy]

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

And I've been watching the Home Secretary Theresa May spouting off but what if anything will happen,I believe very little.

She is too busy reading your emails to worry about Putin.

[Publicus]

The Chekist Putin has from the outset filled senior positions in his government with former KGB and the GRU which is military intelligence from the days of Putin's cherished and defunct Soviet Union.

Many say GRU is even worse than KGB was to include its current incarnation the FSB.

Putins's government is an extensive assemblage of spies, cloak and dagger operatives, experts in espionage, assassination, swift murder, torture, death by slow and horrendous means and more.

Polonium Putin and his Russia.

Chekism (from Cheka, the first Soviet secret police organization) is a term to describe the situation in the Soviet Union and contemporary Russia, where the secret political police control everything in society.^[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekism

The Chekists together with organised crime all of it led by Polonium Putin.

[englishoak]

Wow still trying to get more blood out of this proverbial stone 10 years later ? wow must be running out of ammo or some Tory scandal about to break.

Seriously they need to give the propaganda crud a rest....or at least try not to pretend its all just one way or just the damned pesky ruskies because it suits a policy.

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

One thing to say to that... certain Anthrax laced parcels originated from where exactly ?

We are all at it, especially the US and you know it so stop talking poop about spying like we aint all in it sunk to the nuts deep too etc...

Some black pot kettle balls ya got there pub if your pretending US benignity re spying and espionage I must say

[webfact]

UK judge: Putin 'probably approved' killing of ex-KGB agent
By JILL LAWLESS

LONDON (AP) — Almost a decade after former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko lay dying in a London hospital bed, a British judge has concluded who poisoned him: two Russian men, acting at the behest of Russia's security services, probably with approval from President Vladimir Putin.

That finding prompted sharp exchanges Thursday between London and Moscow, and a diplomatic dilemma for both countries. With Russia and the West inching closer together after years of strain, neither side wants a new feud — even over a state-sanctioned murder on British soil.

Judge Robert Owen, who led the public inquiry into the killing, said he was certain that two Russians with links to the security services had given Litvinenko green tea containing a fatal dose of radioactive polonium-210 during a meeting at a London hotel. He said there was a "strong probability" that Russia's FSB, the successor to the Soviet Union's KGB spy agency, directed the killing and that the operation was "probably approved" by Putin, then as now the president of Russia.

Before he died, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, but Owen's report is the first public official statement linking the Russian president to the crime, and it sent a chilling jolt through U.K.-Russia relations.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the evidence in the report of "state-sponsored" killing was "absolutely appalling." Britain summoned the Russian ambassador for a dressing-down and imposed an asset freeze on the two main suspects: Andrei Lugovoi, now a Russian lawmaker, and Dmitry Kovtun.

Home Secretary Theresa May said the involvement of the Russian state was "a blatant and unacceptable breach of the most fundamental tenets of international law and of civilized behavior."

Moscow has always strongly denied being involved in Litvinenko's death and accused Britain of conducting a secretive and politically motivated inquiry.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the "quasi-investigation" would "further poison the atmosphere of our bilateral relations."

He said the report "cannot be accepted by us as a verdict."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakarova said the British inquiry was neither public nor transparent, saying it had turned into a "shadow puppet theater."

"There was one goal from the beginning: slander Russia and slander its officials," she told reporters in Moscow.

Litvinenko fled to Britain in 2000 and became a critic of Russia's security services and of Putin, whom he accused of links to organized crime and other alleged transgressions including pedophilia, Owen said in the report. He was a very vocal annoyance, feeding inside information about Russia's secrets to Western intelligence services, and — the judge said — was widely regarded within the FSB as a traitor.

"There were powerful motives for organizations and individuals within the Russian state to take action against Mr. Litvinenko, including killing him," Owen wrote in the 326-page report.

The judge said the case for Russian state involvement was circumstantial but strong. Owen said Litvinenko had "personally targeted President Putin himself with highly personal public criticism," allied himself with Putin's opponents and was believed to be working for British intelligence.

Litvinenko had co-written a book in which he blamed former FSB superiors of carrying out bombings of Russian apartment buildings in 1999 that were blamed on Chechen militants. He also accused Putin of being behind the 2006 contract-style slaying of Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya.

Owen said the method of killing, with radioactive poison, fit with the deaths of several other opponents of Putin and his government, and noted that Putin had "supported and protected" Lugovoi since the killing, even awarding him a medal for service to the nation.

"I am sure that Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun placed the polonium-210 in the teapot at the Pine Bar on 1 November 2006," he wrote — probably under the direction of the FSB.

He said the operation to kill Litvinenko was "probably" approved by then-FSB head Nikolai Patrushev, now head of Putin's security council. He said it was "likely" the FSB chief would have sought Putin's approval for an operation to kill Litvinenko.

Marina Litvinenko, the spy's widow, said she was "very pleased that the words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr. Putin have been proved by an English court."

She urged Cameron to expel Russian intelligence agents operating in Britain and impose economic sanctions and travel bans on Putin and other officials linked to what her lawyer, Ben Emmerson, called "a mini-act of nuclear terrorism on the streets of London."

"It's unthinkable that the prime minister would do nothing in the face of the damning findings," Marina Litvinenko told reporters.

Britain's scope for strong action is limited, however.

U.K.-Russian relations have remained chilly since the killing of Litvinenko, who was granted British citizenship shortly before his death, and worsened with Russia's involvement in the separatist fighting in Ukraine. But the inquiry's report comes as the two countries are cautiously trying to work together against the Islamic State group in Syria, and neither wants a major new rift.

May, the home secretary, announced asset freezes against Lugovoi and Kovtun, and said Interpol had issued notices calling for their arrest if they traveled abroad. Russia refuses to extradite them.

Lugovoi is now a member of the Russian parliament, which means he is immune from prosecution in his country. In an interview with The Associated Press, he called the British investigation a "spectacle."

"I think that — yet again — Great Britain has shown that anything that involves their political interests, they'll make a top priority," he said.

Lugovoi also claimed he would have liked to testify at the inquiry but "was not allowed." The judge said both Lugovoi and Kovtun declined to give evidence.

Kovtun, now described as a businessman, told the Tass news agency that the conclusions were based on "false evidence" presented in closed hearings.

Political figures in Russia have cast the political inquiry as politically driven by a hostile West, and have highlighted the fact that parts were held in private because Britain was unwilling to disclose intelligence material.

Vyacheslav Nikonov, a political analyst close to the Kremlin, called the case "a black box into which no one was allowed to look, except for the judge," and claimed "decisions were made for purely political reasons."

Dmitry Oreshkin, an opposition-minded Russian political analyst, said the findings meant "the relationship with the West will systematically get worse" — something that suited Putin's interests.

Owen, a retired High Court judge appointed by the government to head the inquiry, heard from dozens of witnesses during months of public hearings last year and also saw secret British intelligence evidence.

In his report, the judge laid out the overwhelming scientific evidence against Lugovoi and Kovtun, including a trail of radiation that stretched from the hotel teapot to the sink in Kovtun's room and even to Emirates Stadium, the home of the Arsenal soccer team where Lugovoi attended a game.

Litvinenko died after three agonizing weeks in which his hair fell out, he vomited blood and his organs failed. A urine test conducted by a doctor on a hunch shortly before Litvinenko's death revealed the presence of polonium-210, an isotope that is deadly if ingested in tiny quantities.

He lapsed into unconsciousness Nov. 22, after telling his wife he loved her and died of heart failure the next day. His body was so radioactive that he was buried in a lead-lined coffin in London's Highgate Cemetery.
___

Associated Press writers Katherine Jacobsen, Lynn Berry and Vitnija Saldava in Moscow and Sylvia Hui in London contributed.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-22

[craigt3365]

Wow still trying to get more blood out of this proverbial stone 10 years later ? wow must be running out of ammo or some Tory scandal about to break.

Seriously they need to give the propaganda crud a rest....or at least try not to pretend its all just one way or just the damned pesky ruskies because it suits a policy.

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

One thing to say to that... certain Anthrax laced parcels originated from where exactly ?

We are all at it, especially the US and you know it so stop talking poop about spying like we aint all in it sunk to the nuts deep too etc...

Some black pot kettle balls ya got there pub if your pretending US benignity re spying and espionage I must say

Don't deflect. This isn't about the US and is off topic. The UK government has done what seems to be a very thorough investigation. Somebody was murdered in their city by foreign nationals. And it seems on orders from a foreign government. Serious stuff indeed. Seems they've found a link to the death. Good work UK government:

In his report, the judge laid out the overwhelming scientific evidence against Lugovoi and Kovtun, including a trail of radiation that stretched from the hotel teapot to the sink in Kovtun's room and even to Emirates Stadium, the home of the Arsenal soccer team where Lugovoi attended a game.

[englishoak]

Not really, no one ever thought it would be found otherwise 8 years ago.

Nevermind, im sure once more thrown into the spotlight will serve an agenda, again.

Just regurgitating the same story over and over, basic propaganda tool.

[craigt3365]

Not really, no one ever thought it would be found otherwise 8 years ago.

Nevermind, im sure once more thrown into the spotlight will serve an agenda, again.

Just regurgitating the same story over and over, basic propaganda tool.

Propaganda? No way. They took their time, did a proper investigation, and here's the result. Definitely not propaganda. Well, the Russian's feel that way. But that's to be expected.

Again, they did a good job researching this and found evidence to implicate several individuals. I'm sure there's more in that report we don't know about. And not the first time Russia has knocked off a political opponent. LOL

[StasD]

Who will use polonium to kill somebody? only idiot:

1.It is easy to find

2.it is very expensive

3.It is easy to track etc,etc,etc

This is only politics game

there was no any reason for Putin to kill this guy. He told all what he had knew to MI6 or MI5 already

But there is a lot of reasons for somebody to kill Litvinenko with polonium to blame Putin later

Edited January 22, 2016 by StasD

[Langsuan Man]

Who will use polonium to kill somebody? only idiot:

1.It is easy to find

2.it is very expensive

3.It is easy to track etc,etc,etc

This is only politics game

there was no any reason for Putin to kill this guy. He told all what he had knew to MI6 or MI5 already

But there is a lot of reasons for somebody to kill Litvinenko with polonium to blame Putin later

Typical, blame the victim

You murder dissenters not for what they have done but to instill fear in any future dissent, especially when you show you can get to anyone,

anywhere , at any time StasiD

[Credo]

Who will use polonium to kill somebody? only idiot:

1.It is easy to find

2.it is very expensive

3.It is easy to track etc,etc,etc

This is only politics game

there was no any reason for Putin to kill this guy. He told all what he had knew to MI6 or MI5 already

But there is a lot of reasons for somebody to kill Litvinenko with polonium to blame Putin later

The average revenge killer doesn't have access to polonium.

I think you shot yourself in the foot with that post. It would take a gov't to kill the guy the way he was killed.

[Andaman Al]

I cannot believe a Judge is permitted to release a report that says a current serving world statesman "probably" gave an order to kill someone! With the potential S**t that could hit the fan over such a statement it is grossly irresponsible. I don't like Putin but in world politics you cannot go around throwing "probably" at world leaders when it concerns a very serious criminal offence. Over 80% of the Russians love Putin and there are tens of thousands of Brits that live and work in Russia. Judge Owen needs to be retired quickly.

[craigt3365]

Sadly, he's not the first Putin critic to end up like this. There's a history here. It's not good. What a long list of names. Incredible how anybody could support Putin:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/03/europe/russia-putin-critics/

This is definitely worth a read:

https://larussophobe.wordpress.com/putinmurders/

[craigt3365]

Wow....

http://news.sky.com/story/1437519/the-putin-critics-who-have-been-assassinated

[Langsuan Man]

I cannot believe a Judge is permitted to release a report that says a current serving world statesman "probably" gave an order to kill someone! With the potential S**t that could hit the fan over such a statement it is grossly irresponsible. I don't like Putin but in world politics you cannot go around throwing "probably" at world leaders when it concerns a very serious criminal offence. Over 80% of the Russians love Putin and there are tens of thousands of Brits that live and work in Russia. Judge Owen needs to be retired quickly.

IMHO the judge should receive some recognition from HRM for speaking out and he would not have issued the report if there were not substantial evidence uncovered in his investigation

But you see that is how a democracy works, judges are free to issue reports that the government doesn't censor but I guess being here in Thailand we forget the cornerstone that is free speech

The over 80% "love Putin" comes from the same type of surveys that say the 99% of Thais love the junta. And let us not keep our mouths shut because tens of thousands of Brits that live and work in Russia which is their choice and foreign policy should not be based upon "guest" workers

[ggt]

If Putin did not approve of the covert operation to murder Litvinenko way back when...I feel certain he approves of the results...

[StasD]

Who will use polonium to kill somebody? only idiot:

1.It is easy to find

2.it is very expensive

3.It is easy to track etc,etc,etc

This is only politics game

there was no any reason for Putin to kill this guy. He told all what he had knew to MI6 or MI5 already

But there is a lot of reasons for somebody to kill Litvinenko with polonium to blame Putin later

Typical, blame the victim

You murder dissenters not for what they have done but to instill fear in any future dissent, especially when you show you can get to anyone,

anywhere , at any time StasiD

555 there are a lot of people like Litvinenko. As I know former KGB general Kalugin work now as a guide in Washington and told to people how and where he met with his agents)))

Litvinenko was killed by of his boss Berezovski, this man was rich and could get polonium easy. They had met in the same cafe 2 days before. Reasons?-the same as in my previous post + Berezovski liked to use his staff completely, usually they continued to serve him even after their death. Berezovski commited suiside in England, burried in closed coffin, police almost was not interested in this case so please make your decision

Edited January 22, 2016 by StasD

[craigt3365]

555 there are a lot of people like Litvinenko. As I know former KGB general Kalugin work now as a guide in Washington and told to people how and where he met with his agents)))

Litvinenko was killed by of his boss Berezovski, this man was rich and could get polonium easy. They had met in the same cafe 2 days before. Reasons?-the same as in my previous post + Berezovski liked to use his staff completely, usually they continued to serve him even after their death. Berezovski commited suiside in England, burried in closed coffin, police almost was not interested in this case so please make your decision

More Russian propaganda. Man, they are really good at this! LOL And sadly, the Russian population believes this stuff!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman)#Death_of_Alexander_Litvinenko_in_November_2006

An alternative theory – that the murder was orchestrated by Berezovsky with the aim of "framing" the Russian government and discrediting it on the global stage – has been aired in the Russian state-funded media,^%5B200%5D by Lugovoy,^%5B201%5D by Litvinenko's Italy-based father^%5B202%5D and by Russian officials.^%5B203%5D Berezovsky won a UK libel suit against Russian State Television over these allegations in 2010 (see above), following which he commented, "I trust the conclusions of the British investigators that the trail leads to Russia and I hope that one day justice will prevail."^%5B156%5D Russian State-funded media continue to report the claims e.g. "'Berezovsky killed my son', Litvinenko's dad tells Scotland Yard"^%5B202%5D as of May 2012.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-weird-world-of-boris-berezovsky-alexander-litvinenkos-inquest-has-provided-an-intriguing-insight-10117927.html

But witnesses from Berezovsky's circle have also asserted that – although the oligarch had trusted Lugovoy to provide security over many years, and although Lugovoy dropped into the oligarch's offices when he was in London and partook of his select wines – relations between them were on a strictly business footing. Any suggestion that Berezovsky might have hired Lugovoy for more nefarious purposes – against Litvinenko, for instance – has been dismissed.

Indeed, among the many who frequented Berezovsky's strangely dismal offices in Mayfair, Litvinenko would appear to be one of the less significant – the relationship being a bit more than that of benevolent patron and supplicant. Berezovsky, it has often been reported, believed Litvinenko saved his life more than once, and felt obliged to return the favour.

The story goes that in 1997 Litvinenko had been ordered by his FSB bosses to arrange Berezovsky's assassination, or even to carry it out. Instead, Litvinenko passed on a warning, an act that Berezovsky believed saved his life, and which was seen by the FSB as treachery. When things then became too dangerous for Litvinenko in Russia, Berezovsky facilitated and funded his escape, via Georgia and Turkey, putting his private plane, as well as Goldfarb and another trustie, at the family's disposal.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed. The topic is not about the USA.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Gotta give it to British intelligence. They really did a great job trolling, but seems like they are unable to figure out a simple koh tao murder case.

[khunken]

No surprise that the anti-Russian propagandists are grabbing onto this.

Now I don't know who was responsible for Litvinenko's death, nor do any of the haters, nor even does the judge apparently.

'Probably' has absolutely no legal standing and is never enough to convict anyone (leaving Thailand out of it).

As the late great Jim Hacker said - (paraphrasing) you don't set up an enquiry to find out the truth, you first decide on the outcome and then load the enquiry with people that will give you the desired outcome.

This wouldn't be the first UK enquiry to produce findings in line with Hacker's statement.

[jesimps]

Wow still trying to get more blood out of this proverbial stone 10 years later ? wow must be running out of ammo or some Tory scandal about to break.

Seriously they need to give the propaganda crud a rest....or at least try not to pretend its all just one way or just the damned pesky ruskies because it suits a policy.

And risked the lives of everybody, who was in contact. Innocent people nurses doctors and the general public. Thats what kind of people these are.!

One thing to say to that... certain Anthrax laced parcels originated from where exactly ?

We are all at it, especially the US and you know it so stop talking poop about spying like we aint all in it sunk to the nuts deep too etc...

Some black pot kettle balls ya got there pub if your pretending US benignity re spying and espionage I must say

Your kind words will be a great comfort to Litvinenko's widow. I hope your death is as fast and painless as his.

Cruel so and so that Putin, it's there in his eyes. Pure evil.

[jesimps]

I cannot believe a Judge is permitted to release a report that says a current serving world statesman "probably" gave an order to kill someone! With the potential S**t that could hit the fan over such a statement it is grossly irresponsible. I don't like Putin but in world politics you cannot go around throwing "probably" at world leaders when it concerns a very serious criminal offence. Over 80% of the Russians love Putin and there are tens of thousands of Brits that live and work in Russia. Judge Owen needs to be retired quickly.

Tells you just what nice people Russians are doesn't it. I mean you only have to check out the nice polite, unassuming, modest and gentle souls in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Doesn't surprise me in the least that 80% of them love Putin.

[Pakboong]

If Putin is in fact the evil dictator that many seem to think he is, this is simply business as usual. He does not come across to me as one who would micro-manage and I doubt he would get his hands dirty in such matters. If I am wrong and he is a micro-manager, he is not long for the program anyway. Those kind do not last long at that level.

[Publicus]

Alexander Litvinenko is one among many Putin critics to be set upon by the constantly busy Russian Grim Reaper.

The Chekist Putin and his Murder Incorporated Government went too far in this one as the UK judge has made clear in the UK where Putin overextended his reach yet again in yet another nefarious way.

Few can reasonably doubt the Russian alphabet borsch is responsible, the FSB, KGB, GRU along with the Russian mafia of corrupt corporate gangsters they are in league with. That Putin was at the center of this political assassination is not beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not beyond any doubt.

http://www.france24.com/en/20150302-mysterious-fates-putin-critics-nemtsov-khodorkovsky-litvinenko-politkovskaya

[Publicus]

As we see, trying to apologise for Putin's Chekism, corruption, czar-commissar mentality and behaviors does present a challenge to even the most loyal of fanboyz.

One major reason is that in Russia presidents assassinate you.

Litvinenko's widow understandably said Putin went nuclear in London. Polonium isn't exactly a bomb but it is classic Putin, i.e., poison.

[Lopchan]

I cannot believe a Judge is permitted to release a report that says a current serving world statesman "probably" gave an order to kill someone! With the potential S**t that could hit the fan over such a statement it is grossly irresponsible. I don't like Putin but in world politics you cannot go around throwing "probably" at world leaders when it concerns a very serious criminal offence. Over 80% of the Russians love Putin and there are tens of thousands of Brits that live and work in Russia. Judge Owen needs to be retired quickly.

Tells you just what nice people Russians are doesn't it. I mean you only have to check out the nice polite, unassuming, modest and gentle souls in Pattaya and Jomtien.

Doesn't surprise me in the least that 80% of them love Putin.

Yes, just as the loud mouthed, We is Numbah 1, we saved youz fools in WW everything Americans are proof that 80% of Americans are losers?

Same goes fro all the poor examples of humanity from every nation that we see here or elsewhere?

The ugly few do NOT reflect a nation in its entirety..

Edited January 22, 2016 by Lopchan

[craigt3365]

If Putin is in fact the evil dictator that many seem to think he is, this is simply business as usual. He does not come across to me as one who would micro-manage and I doubt he would get his hands dirty in such matters. If I am wrong and he is a micro-manager, he is not long for the program anyway. Those kind do not last long at that level.

This is not micro managing. It's a big deal to kill somebody on a foreign soil. Which was done here. It is possible he wasn't intimately involved, but it's also possible he knew all about this. Few know the truth. But what we do know, is Russian agents did in fact kill this poor man. And he's not the first.