Litvinenko 'probably murdered on personal orders of Putin

Thorgalaeg said:
But Russian maffia or Chechens have not Polonio at hand, havent they?
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It's not that difficult to get. Better question is why it was used - as far as I understand using polonium for that purpose is impractical, expensive and dangerous for perpetrator. The only reason I can anticipate, is that the purpose was achieving as much media effect as possible.

Thorgalaeg said:
Maybe Putin simply ordered "kill that SOB"
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May be. There were wanted Russian criminals in Britain at that time - oligarch Berezovsky, former Chechen authority Zakayev, etc. Why kill harmless person from all possible others?
If he possessed information which Putin didn't want to be disclosed, then why they gave him poison which requires several weeks to kill person?
 
Thorgalaeg said:
But Russian maffia or Chechens have not Polonio at hand, havent they?. I think things are more caothic than we usually think. Maybe Putin simply ordered "kill that SOB" and some smartass had the idea of using the Polonio they had gathering dust at a stand.
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Bootstoots said:
Incidentally, is anyone interested in buying enough polonium to kill several spies-turned-dissidents? Only $216. Comes with 5 mCi, or about 10 lethal doses. Packaged safely with the polonium under gold leaf, apparently. But if that's true, some aqua regia ought to liberate it for any would-be poisoners.
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Most people think polonium is a bizarre thing that only the Russians have, but that's not true. It's used all the time in industrial static elimination devices, which contain the polonium under thin gold plating to keep it in place. The alpha particles ionize the air, which becomes a conductor and allows any charge buildup to flow away. The link I gave lists a 5 millicurie (~10 lethal doses) device for $216. You can just click "Add to Cart" and check out to get your very own polonium! For the extraction, aqua regia will dissolve gold, and I'd guess polonium too. You'd need a basic chem lab with a fume hood in order not to poison yourself, but it should be pretty simple. Easily within the reach of anyone who really wanted Litvinenko dead.

That said, I believe the polonium for industrial devices is sourced from Russia, which is the only significant polonium producer. So the use of polonium is still a bit suspicious. The circumstantial evidence is what really points toward the FSB, though. It could have been them acting without direct orders from Putin or with them.
 
If Putin was responsible, it was probably more like Thomas Becket and Henry II.

If Vlad had seriously intended the murder, it would have been more discrete.

I reckon FSB (or ex FSB became organised crime) did it and
used Polonium to expressly terrify others from defecting/talking.
 
EnglishEdward said:
If Putin was responsible, it was probably more like Thomas Becket and Henry II.

If Vlad had seriously intended the murder, it would have been more discrete.

I reckon FSB (or ex FSB became organised crime) did it and
used Polonium to expressly terrify others from defecting/talking.
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Since when does organized crime do Putin's dirty work? Are you saying Putin is a mob boss?
 
red_elk said:
A drill would do. Datasheet says the coating made of aluminium and stainless steel. Not sure why gold would be needed there.
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I think there's a couple of microns of gold separating the polonium from the air, so as to prevent it from getting loose. Not sure why they use gold, other than that it can be made really thin, and the coating needs to be very thin so that the alphas can get out.

I think it would be more effective to get the polonium in solution to make it more bioavailable. Otherwise most of it might stay stuck between the gold and the backing metal, and just pass through the victim. It still might kill them, but it would be less likely. And I imagine that a drill would kick up a bunch of gold/polonium/aluminum dust, which would be a problem for the poisoner.
 
Right, the most effective would probably be to use acid and convert it to a water-soluble salt.

warpus said:
This is quite obviously just another example of the immoral western media trying to make Vladimir Vladimirovich Vladivimorsky Vladimorsoaphfk Putin look bad.
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Finally, at least one person managed to get it right.
 
red_elk said:
Right, the most effective would probably be to use acid and convert it to a water-soluble salt.
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Yep, that is how things are done.
 
Sort of. My friend who suffer from migraine complains that it has become nearly impossible to get codeine-containing medicines. Previously it was possible to buy without prescription.
Drugs can abuse you even if you don't abuse them.
 
Blah blah blah de blah...

So it takes 10 years to work out that what everyone knew at the beginning is "most probably true"?

What amuses me is how cack-handed the whole assassination was. (Still, I remember that business with the poison umbrella, so this polonium job came as no surprise. Bit of a nasty way to die, though.) Any secret service worth its salt is going to make it look suicide... or get someone else to do the job... or make it all supremely deniable.

As for the UK government doing anything about it, why should they? They don't expect other governments to do anything about the assassinations the UK carries out on foreign soil, do they? (Which they usually engineer to pass as suicide, btw. Or it really is suicide, in the face of a fate even worse.)

Still, well done to Marina for getting the UK to investigate the matter at all. Albeit, extremely reluctantly.
 
I bet Putin protected himself by technically not giving the order directly anyhow. I mean, there's no need to really protect yourself all too much when you can just say "I didn't do it", smile, and walk away, but he's the sort of great leader who covers his bases.
 
Is it usual for investigations like this to take just under 10 years? Did the British government have it quietly shelved for a couple years and decided to dust it off recently?
 
warpus said:
I bet Putin protected himself by technically not giving the order directly anyhow.
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I bet Putin was unaware of this guy's existence, before he died. Like ~99.999% of other people.

Borachio said:
What amuses me is how cack-handed the whole assassination was.
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It was done perfectly as designed. Slow and painful death, lots of journalists, huge scandal.
 
Ajidica said:
Is it usual for investigations like this to take just under 10 years? Did the British government have it quietly shelved for a couple years and decided to dust it off recently?
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Yeah. It's usual when no one, other than the widow*, has any interest in discovering the truth.

In my opinion.

*Who is persistent enough that the UK system cannot just ignore her.

It was done perfectly as designed. Slow and painful death, lots of journalists, huge scandal.
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Leaving a clear pointer all the way back to Putin. Fine. If a head of state actually wants the reputation of a gangster. Which, naturally, Putin may well want, for all I know.
 
red_elk said:
It was done perfectly as designed. Slow and painful death, lots of journalists, huge scandal.
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I am starting to see a sinister western plot everywhere.

Is "The west did it" Russia's version of the American truther movement?
 
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