Vladimir Putin brushed off complaints of election fixing during his annual televised live chat with the nation on Thursday , but behind the scenes his lieutenants are anxiously plotting how to quell rising discontent. Putin claimed during the phone-athon that he was “cheered” by the sight of tens of thousands of Russians flooding on to [...]
Tag: kgb officer
December 16, 2011
November 5, 2011
Radioactive Russian spy story for big screen
The man behind the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, British director Rupert Wyatt, is set to shed some cinematic light on the mysterious case of the poisoned former Soviet KGB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko. He will direct the biopic based on the true story of the Russian secret agent, likely to be played by [...]
October 13, 2011
Litvinenko’s relatives push to extend probe into his death
The relatives of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in 2006 in London, have called for a substantial probe into his death, BBC reported on Thursday. Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the late officer, urged a senior High Court judge to conduct the probe, BBC reported. St. Pancras Coroner’s Court in London on [...]
October 3, 2011
Russia challenges U.K. to provide evidence on ‘Litvinenko murder’
Russia on Monday again denied any involvement in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko and challenged Britain to present any evidence to the contrary. The reaction came in response to an article, entitled “Russia murdered Litvinenko, says top prosecutor,” published in The Sunday Times. It said Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, the chief prosecutor who investigated [...]
September 25, 2011
Putin’s presidential ambitions signal a return to autocracy | Observer editorial
The announcement by the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that he favours taking a back seat and recommending his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, to succeed him in 2012 should hardly come as a surprise. The reality is that Putin, the macho former KGB officer, has never gone away since he stood down in 2008 after serving two [...]
September 19, 2011
With one punch Lebedev becomes a real media mogul…
I’ve no idea about the ins and outs of the squabble between newspaper publisher Alexander Lebedev and another Russian tycoon, Sergei Polonsky. But Lebedev’s televised assault on Polonsky (see above) does much to counter the prevailing view of him as a rather earnest and grey figure. In a couple of seconds of spontaneous action Lebedev [...]
September 12, 2011
British PM Cameron looks to melt tensions on Russia visit
British Prime Minister David Cameron began a visit to Russia on Monday, the first by a U.K. leader since 2005. Speaking before his departure, Cameron said he hoped the two countries could make “progress” and cooperate for mutual benefit. “Although our differences in recent years are well known, we face many similar challenges and both [...]
September 12, 2011
British PM Cameron urges Russia to uphold ‘rule of law’
British businesses needs guarantees that assets will not be “unlawfully taken away from them” before they can start work in Russia, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday during a visit to Moscow. “I’ve talked to many British businesses. I have no doubt about their ambition to work in Russia, but it’s also clear that [...]
September 12, 2011
Lugovoi to demand Litvinenko autopsy results
Former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, the chief suspect in the 2006 killing of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, has said he will demand Litvinenko’s autopsy results from British police. Litvinenko, a former Russian agent and outspoken critic of then President Vladimir Putin, died in 2006 in a London hospital after being poisoned with the radioactive substance [...]
September 12, 2011
Cameron denies sacrificing Litvinenko issue for trade
British Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed suggestions on Monday that the U.K. had “parked” the issue of the death of Alexander Litvinenko for trade relations. Speaking at a joint news conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Cameron said Britain and Russia “disagreed” on the death of former KGB officer Litvinenko, but that the issue remained [...]