The story of Alexander Litvinenko, former Russian spy allegedly poisoned with radioactive substance Polonium 210, is another which captured the imagination of the western media, in their paranoia about 'the former Soviet Union'. Litvinenko and Yuri Felshtinsky wrote critically of then President Vladimir Putin, himself former KGB, in their book 'Blowing Up Russia', the first to be banned in Russia since Solzhenitsyn's 'Gulag Archipelago'.
That book explained among other things how the KGB disbanded, departments moved around and re-settled, re-organised, with basically the same people in place, as the FSB; how the secret services bombed Moscow and other parts of Russia and ultimately orchestrated the two Chechen wars. They also blamed the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya on Putin, and let the world believe he was also responsible for Litvinenko's own death by poisoning - on British soil.
Putin and his FSB may be no saints, but he has some powerful enemies. Viktor Yuschenko, President of Ukraine saw fit to blame Putin for poisoning him... others say it was alcohol. Mikhail Khodorkovsky is, I think, on trial about now having spent the last few years in prison... I'm not actually that sure what for, but the significance of his case is it looks like Putin silencing his enemies. Wouldn't take long to find out if I could be bothered to look it up. He was once Russia's richest man, and no friend of the present administration.
And then there's billionaire Boris Berezovsky - in exile in Britain. Has openly said he intends to bring about a new 'Russian revolution', and some believe Litvinenko may have been on his payroll when he became poisoned, if not by Andre Lugovoi as accused, then possibly by his own doing - handling nuclear materials.
Also included here are Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer who appears to have been murdered by a professional and was representing a client critical of human rights abuses under Putin; Mario Scaramella and Dmitry Kovtun, businessmen who met with Litvinenko prior to his death.
Putin's Presidency has since given way to his young protege Dmitry Medvedev... but Putin remains as Prime Minister, and some say is still very much in the driving seat.
Is he really that much of a villain? Someone in this tale isn't telling the truth. Who?
(excuse the vagueness and lack of detailed info... I'm tired)
For a starter in the alternative to the official story, which I've pointed toward here, the writer Justin Raimondo on Antiwar.com is as good as any. See links section
AntwortenLöschenI have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that this guy above is the "King of Crooks" hand over fist.
AntwortenLöschenCan anyone explain to me HOW in a country where ALL wealth used to belong to the state produces a "billionaire"?
well, in Roman Abramovich's (owner of Chelsea and CSKA Moscow football clubs, see above) case, he had shares in aluminium and, I think oil (Sibneft) when the union collapsed. Their value kinda shot up. Nobody's got anything dirty on him, and there may not be any... Berezovsky's a naughty boy, but they're not all Mafia.
AntwortenLöschenOleg Deripaska is of course also notable...
AntwortenLöschenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Deripaska
Don't know how you do that screenshot thing
I must also state (for transparency) that I admire Putin. I may not prefer to live under his rule. That is a different issue. But, to take a country which has made a "peaceful" transition from one regime to another, and went through total incompetent leaders such as Yeltsin, a drunkard and, to a lesser degree, Gorbachev, an "academician".
AntwortenLöschenPutin has transformed Russia from being a land without an owner available for plunder by foreign countries into a formidable World power, economically as well as militarily.
I cannot help but wonder how the US foreign office is regretting having totally failed to take a decisive advantage of the collapse of the Soviets.
When "Perestroika" came about, it was celebrated in the US as finally having decisively won WW-II. And that the US was now the one and only superpower in the world...
Well, the euphoria lasted about 10 years.
Now, the USA and its allies (The West?) are in shambles, while the "state capitalism" of both China and Russia is standing solid, albeit badly hit by the economic crisis.
China has a hard time to export to the US. But, given the "Communist Party", they will not have much of a problem weathering this.
Same thing applies for Russia: The main export, energy, may have suffered big time due to tumbling oil prices... But, Russia has managed to monopolize the European energy market single-handedly.
Europe has long been hoping to ween itself off the "ARAMCO" yoke.
And Russia, under Putin, has successfully served them well.
:)))
AntwortenLöschenHow can a Soviet citizen have the capital(!) to buy out what used to belong to the "people" (state).
Did you have a chance to bid on it?
C'mon. That was the biggest plunder of the 20th century. Party influentials usurping all that wealth at no cost whatsoever.
This guy's loot was apparently those you mention.
No idea :))
AntwortenLöschenSounds like a great movie plot...
AntwortenLöschenMoney is made by gangsters and the Russian mafia connections to these groups produces Millionaires. let me give you an example that I am familiar with. Russia has vast amounts of oil, this oil to benefit anyone has to get to the customer to make money. In Northern Russia the port of St Petersburgh is the most logical place to export the oil to the refineries in Holland and Belgium. But the Russian mafia has a strangle hold on all goods entering or leaving the port. The oil companies have to pay for all goods, or they don't get loaded on to ships. To counter some of that the Russian oil companies ship via estonia and Lithuania. I do business in Tallinn Estonia with the rail companies because of this problem. Every 15 minutes a 100 car train of oil passes through the Tallinn port to avoid the Russian mafia. Years ago when gambling was started in Atlantic City the state of NJ was proud to say that organized crime was not in NJ gambling, they were right, except nothing regarding food, cleaners, sheets, table covers, equipment got into the casinos without going thru organized crime. They were not in the gambling , but controlled the service industry.
AntwortenLöschenhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-litvinenko-files-berezovsky-819532.html
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