Alexander Litvinenko Part II anybody?

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I guess the US were heavily involved in the election ...

Yep It was Trump who with a puttin´ put Putin into the Presidential Hole.

Markus

[STEED]

[Rockstar]

Now for his next trick

[STEED]

Originally Posted by Rockstar

Now for his next trick

That will be $200 each boys and girls, pay up or its the salt mines for you.

[Jimbuna]

Nothing in the UK press about this today as far as I can ascertain

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Mr Satter-wsj

The attempted murder of Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in the U.K. represents a serious escalation. The March 5 attack, in which his daughter Yulia was also poisoned, shows that Moscow is directing terrorism toward defectors and using it as a political weapon against the West. The West should respond by imposing sanctions against President Vladimir Putin himself.
In the 2006 attack that killed former Federal Security Service officer Alexander Litvinenko in London, the crime was not supposed to be solved. He showed symptoms of radiation poisoning, but there was no beta or gamma radiation in his blood. Before he died, however, samples of his urine were tested in a laboratory for alpha-emitting elements that cannot penetrate the body but are deadly when taken internally. The tests came back positive for polonium-210, an alpha emitter. If Litvinenko had died sooner, the cause would not have been detected. In the Skripal case, the Russians are eager to take credit. Kirill Kleimenov, an anchor on the official government station Channel One, observed that traitors rarely live to a “ripe old age” and advised them: “Don’t choose Britain as a place to live.” Against the background of furious denials on the rest of Russian state-controlled television, this was, in the lexicon of the Russian security services, a “direct hint” that the attack on Mr. Skripal was an official act. Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman, responded to a demand for answers by saying that Britain should not “threaten a nuclear power.” That suggests a dual motive for the attack: It was undertaken to murder a former double agent and to assert Russian power and defiance of Western efforts to restrain Moscow’s lawlessness.
The Skripal attack is also a sign that Russia has expanded the category of persons targeted for murder. Mr. Skripal was one of four double agents Russia released in 2010 in exchange for 10 Russian spies in the U.S. Since the first spy swap in 1962—when KGB Col. Rudolf Abel was exchanged for Capt. Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 spy plane pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union—it has been understood that swapped spies are not subject to retribution. until now that is
The targeting of Mr. Skripal echoes developments inside Russia, where the list of victims has expanded to include Russian opposition-leader Boris Nemtsov. In a Feb. 10, 2015, interview with the newspaper Sobesednik, Nemtsov expressed fear that Vladimir Putin would have him killed. But he believed, according to his assistant Olga Shorina, that he was likelier to be arrested and sent to a labor camp. Based on his knowledge of the system, Nemtsov, a former vice premier, said he thought Mr. Putin would be unlikely to order the killing of a former high official.
He was killed on a bridge near the Kremlin on Feb. 27, 2015. Evidence indicates it was a military operation involving 30 to 40 persons and the crime was carried out by the Federal Guards Service that answers directly to Mr. Putin.
The Skripal attack is significant because it was executed without regard for innocent victims. The polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko was not a danger to bystanders; it had to be ingested. The Skripals were attacked with a contact poison capable of harming anyone near it. The use of the poison, possibly a powder, was so indiscriminate that 19 people were affected in addition to Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Nick Bailey, a police detective who investigated the case, was poisoned and remains hospitalized.
The Skripal attack represents a major escalation in Russian terror in the West. Western governments have an obligation to their citizens to make sure such an attack never takes place again. The U.K. ordered the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats but this is an exercise in futility. All previous expulsions—including four diplomats from the U.K. after the Litvinenko murder, and 50 or more from the U.S. at other times—did nothing to change Russian behavior.
U.S. rhetoric has been muted. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last Monday described the attack as “reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible,” an evasive way of describing a murderous act of political terror. President Trump waited until Tuesday to support the U.K. and did not condemn Russian actions.
The West needs to treat Mr. Putin the same way it treated Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in response to his human-rights violations, including the disappearances of several political opponents. The Belarus Democracy Act 2004 provided for a U.S.-visa ban on Mr. Lukashenko, a freeze of his assets, and a freeze of the assets of companies believed to be connected to him. The European Union followed with a visa ban. After the sanctions were imposed, the disappearances in Belarus came to an end.
In the case of Mr. Putin, such measures could have a significant effect. In his first inaugural address, on May 7, 2000, he said that in Russia, “the head of the government was always and will always be the person who answers for everything.” The West needs to take him at his word.

^Copied in full from this AM's editorial-a very full synopsis of 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

A Russian lawmaker is suggesting that the nerve agent used on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain may have been obtained via the United States.
The U.S. was involved in cleaning up a site where the nerve agent, Novichok, was thought to have been used during the Soviet era.
Novichok, was reportedly tested at a site in Nukus, an isolated city in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic. The United States and Uzbekistan agreed on a cleanup program in 1999.
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament saying the cleanup gave the U.S. the opportunity to learn about Novichok.
Lawmaker Alexei Chepa said on Thursday: “The Americans had access not only to the technology, but had access to its development. In all likelihood, their NATO partners from Britain also had this access.”

Well there it is in a nutshell! 'Manchurian Candidate ' President Trump carried out his Kremlin master's wishes-and did his usual half-assed job! Putin cites the upcoming World Cup, hosted by Russia as a reason why Russia is not responsible...

England manager Gareth Southgate says there’s “no doubt” that his soccer team should be going to the World Cup despite Russia being blamed for poisoning a former spy in the U.K.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered politicians and royals not to attend the World Cup in Russia after former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious after being exposed to a nerve agent.

But after the horrendous OAR Olympic doping in Couples Curling... a total Western boycott of the Cup is mandated.

[Jimbuna]

Russian diplomats and their families have left the UK in an expulsion following the the Salisbury spy attack.

Diplomatic vehicles drove them from the embassy in London to Stansted Airport, where they boarded a plane to Moscow.

The UK expelled 23 diplomats after Prime Minister Theresa May said Russia was "culpable" for the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Moscow has denied all involvement, and is expelling 23 British diplomats in response. The UK diplomats have until Saturday to leave Russia.

The Kremlin is also closing down both the British Council in Russia, which promotes cultural ties between the nations, and the consulate in St Petersburg.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43470069

[Jimbuna]

Theresa May said she would tell her fellow EU leaders that "the Russia threat" did not respect borders, as she arrived for a summit in Brussels.

The UK PM said the nerve agent attack in Salisbury was "part of a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe".

She will stress the UK's commitment to European security, after it leaves the bloc in March 2019.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43489457

Hopefully this will bring some badly needed EU/European backing that the UK currently so badly needs.

[Mr Quatro]

Clue to why the Russian double agent and his daughter was poisoned ... but couldn't this also be a reason for other than Russia to have done the dirty deed?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...ims/ar-BBKDrcM

The former Russian double agent left close to death after a nerve agent attack in Salisbury had written to President Vladimir Putin asking to be pardoned and to be allowed to visit his home country, a friend has claimed.

Vladimir Timoshkov, a friend of Sergei Skripal, said he regretted having spied for the British and wanted to return to Russia to visit his family.

[Reece]

Alexander Litvinenko Part II anybody?

No thanks Jim.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Mr Quatro

Clue to why the Russian double agent and his daughter was poisoned ... but couldn't this also be a reason for other than Russia to have done the dirty deed?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...ims/ar-BBKDrcM

On the 9th of this month it was being suggested by an acquaintance of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal that he believes he may have been targeted by criminal gangs.

Fellow Russian exile Valery Morozov suggested the poisoning may have been an attempt to internationally discredit President Putin ahead of Russia's election.

[Skybird]

Now they play Pingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpi ngpingping-Pongpongpongpong-
pongpongpongpongpongpongpongpongpongpongpong.

[Jimbuna]

The United States and its European allies are expelling dozens of Russian diplomats in a co-ordinated response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK.

It is said to be the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history.

Prime Minister Theresa May said 18 countries have aligned with the UK, expelling more than 100 diplomats.

Russia vowed to retaliate to the "provocative gesture".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43545565

Looks like the stakes have just been raised.

[Skybird]

No, just pronouncing the game's new name may break your tongue.

If I were the Russians, I would expel from every nation the number of diplomats they have expelled from my staff in their country - plus one.

[Mr Quatro]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...tern-diplomats

Russia has vowed to expel dozens of western diplomats in the growing diplomatic dispute over the Salisbury nerve gas attack.

Officials promised a swift and most likely tit-for-tat response after the expulsion of Russian diplomats across Europe and
North America on Monday in a show of solidarity from British allies that represents the biggest concerted blow to Russian
intelligence networks since the cold war.

reminds me of an old Greek poem

I am echo

tit for tit and tat for tat
if you say that then I say that
tit for tit and tat for tat

I am echo

if you be silent then I must
now who could have a tongue
more just

an old Greek poem