JRL NEWSWATCH: “Don’t Drink the Tea: Poison Is a Favored Weapon in Russia” – New York Times/ Andrew E. Kramer

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Artist Rendition of Barrel with Poison Symbol on It, Oozing Green Material

“Poison has been a preferred tool of the Russian security service for more than a century, and critics of the Kremlin say it remains in the arsenal today.”

“… [O]ther countries … have targeted killing programs … limited to counterterrorism …. [yet] Russia … has been accused of targeting a wide variety of opponents both at home and abroad. The Soviet Union [reportedly] operated a secret laboratory … research[ing] tasteless … File Photo of Kremlin Aerial View, adapted from .gov sourceuntraceable poisons … tested on condemned gulag prisoners …. After a series of assassinations and attempted assassinations of dissidents, journalists, defectors and opposition leaders in Russia and broad over the past two decades, researchers have concluded [that] the post-Soviet government has turned to its poison arsenal as a preferred weapon. … [e.g.,] radioactive polonium-210; heavy metals; gelsemium, a rare Himalayan plant toxin; and Novichuk, a military nerve agent lethal to the touch. …”

File Photo of Alexei Navalny Marching on Street with Others in Background; adapted from image at commons.wikimedia.org with credit to Evgeny Feldman, subject to Creative Commons license; original image at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEV_1795_(cropped1).jpg, with license information at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en and creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcodeAlexei Navalny is said to have had tea from an airport cafe before his illness.  According to Gennadi Gudkov, former KGB colonel and former opposition Parliament member (cited by The New York Times in the same article), it is a simple matter to poison a cup of tea, or meal, with the intention of either assassinating the target or incapacitating them Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcasewith a long, difficult illness.  Said Gudkov, “‘It is easy, and easy to cover your tracks,’ … ‘Any person can use poison.'”

Click here for: “Don’t Drink the Tea: Poison Is a Favored Weapon in Russia; Poison has been a preferred tool of the Russian security service for more than a century, and critics of the Kremlin say it remains in the arsenal today.” – New York Times/ Andrew E. Kramer



[Navalny image is file photo from another occasion, adapted from original image at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEV_1795_(cropped1).jpg by Evgeny Feldman, subject to Creative Commons license, with license information at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en and creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode]

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