Kremlin’s Youth Cult on the Rampage

The Financial Times reports on the rampage against British diplomats by the Kremlin’s crazed youth cult “Nashi” (“We Russian Slavs“) in the wake of the Litvinenko killing.

They don’t look too dangerous in the propaganda photo, do they? Stalin looked quite dapper in his moustache too, and remember the perils of the mermaid’s siren song! But read on, dear reader, read on . . . let the facts speak for themselves.

It was shortly after Anthony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, spoke about the challenges to freedom in Russia that a young blond man thrust himself forward and started to yell at the top of his voice: “Brenton, apologise!”

The stunt this week at the Humanities University in Moscow – where Mr Brenton was speaking alongside Sir Tom Stoppard, the British playwright whose trilogy about 19th-century Russian thinkers is being staged in Moscow – was not a one-off prank by an attention-seeking youth. It was part of a well-organised harassment campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship between Moscow and London.

The young man was a member of Nashi (“Our Own”): a Kremlin-sponsored youth movement with a well-earned reputation for thuggery. The organisation, which claims to have 7,000 active members and another 8,000 sympathisers has been stalking the UK ambassador seven days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under considerable strain. “It is a deliberate psychological harassment which is done professionally and which borders on violence,” says Mr Brenton.

Robert Shlegel, of Nashi, whose leaders regularly meet President Vladimir Putin, says this is retribution for Mr Brenton. The British ambassador was “guilty” of speaking at a conference of political opposition parties in Moscow shortly before the summit of Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in St Petersburg in the summer. Igor Shuvalov, an aide to Mr Putin, warned that attending the event – as several western ambassadors did – would be interpreted as an unfriendly act. No sooner had the G8 leaders left Russia than Nashi began its campaign, demanding an apology from the UK ambassador for “endorsing fascists”.

The Nashi case is one part of the souring in Anglo-Russian relations. London’s granting in 2003 of political asylum to Boris Berezovsky, the renegade oligarch, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen opposition leader, infuriated Moscow. British Council offices in Moscow were raided in response and UK diplomats publicly accused of espionage. Images of a radio transmitter disguised as a rock allegedly planted by British spies were later broadcast by Russian state television.

The British investigation of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer, is likely to strain the relationship further. Spy rows and expulsions featured regularly in Anglo-Russian relations in Soviet times. But former British diplomats say that even the communists did not use personal intimidation and harassment of ambassadors and their families. Nashi members follow Mr Brenton with banners at weekends, shout abuse at him, block his car and advertise all his movements on the internet.

Earlier this month a group of Nashi supporters followed Mr Brenton to another city, disrupting a seminar where he spoke. “I was really worried they were going to hurt him,” the organiser of the seminar said. The British embassy has officially complained to the Russian foreign ministry, pointing out that Moscow is breaking the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which demands that foreign envoys be treated with “due respect” and shielded from attacks on their “person, freedom and dignity”.

Foreign ministry officials privately agree that Nashi’s behaviour is outrageous and goes well beyond peaceful protest. But they claim there is little they can do: Nashi is too close to the Kremlin. It has close ties with Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, as well as Mr Putin himself. Nashi said it supported the Kremlin line, met Mr Surkov regularly and received funding from “large, nationally oriented companies”. Its main task was to prevent the spread of “colour revolutions” of the kind that swept Ukraine and Georgia.

The word Nashi has a rich and poignant history, featuring in the novels of Dostoevsky. It was used in the early 1990s by Alexander Nevzorov, a crusading TV presenter, to extol Russian paratroopers trying to suppress popular uprisings in the Baltic states. Nashi claims that it is building a civil society in Russia and fighting against fascism. However, as Sir Tom put it, for people like these, “unpalatable argument is fascism – interrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech”.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Kremlin’s Youth Cult on the Rampage

The Financial Times reports on the rampage against British diplomats by the Kremlin’s crazed youth cult “Nashi” (“We Russian Slavs“) in the wake of the Litvinenko killing.

They don’t look too dangerous in the propaganda photo, do they? Stalin looked quite dapper in his moustache too, and remember the perils of the mermaid’s siren song! But read on, dear reader, read on . . . let the facts speak for themselves.

It was shortly after Anthony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, spoke about the challenges to freedom in Russia that a young blond man thrust himself forward and started to yell at the top of his voice: “Brenton, apologise!”

The stunt this week at the Humanities University in Moscow – where Mr Brenton was speaking alongside Sir Tom Stoppard, the British playwright whose trilogy about 19th-century Russian thinkers is being staged in Moscow – was not a one-off prank by an attention-seeking youth. It was part of a well-organised harassment campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship between Moscow and London.

The young man was a member of Nashi (“Our Own”): a Kremlin-sponsored youth movement with a well-earned reputation for thuggery. The organisation, which claims to have 7,000 active members and another 8,000 sympathisers has been stalking the UK ambassador seven days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under considerable strain. “It is a deliberate psychological harassment which is done professionally and which borders on violence,” says Mr Brenton.

Robert Shlegel, of Nashi, whose leaders regularly meet President Vladimir Putin, says this is retribution for Mr Brenton. The British ambassador was “guilty” of speaking at a conference of political opposition parties in Moscow shortly before the summit of Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in St Petersburg in the summer. Igor Shuvalov, an aide to Mr Putin, warned that attending the event – as several western ambassadors did – would be interpreted as an unfriendly act. No sooner had the G8 leaders left Russia than Nashi began its campaign, demanding an apology from the UK ambassador for “endorsing fascists”.

The Nashi case is one part of the souring in Anglo-Russian relations. London’s granting in 2003 of political asylum to Boris Berezovsky, the renegade oligarch, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen opposition leader, infuriated Moscow. British Council offices in Moscow were raided in response and UK diplomats publicly accused of espionage. Images of a radio transmitter disguised as a rock allegedly planted by British spies were later broadcast by Russian state television.

The British investigation of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer, is likely to strain the relationship further. Spy rows and expulsions featured regularly in Anglo-Russian relations in Soviet times. But former British diplomats say that even the communists did not use personal intimidation and harassment of ambassadors and their families. Nashi members follow Mr Brenton with banners at weekends, shout abuse at him, block his car and advertise all his movements on the internet.

Earlier this month a group of Nashi supporters followed Mr Brenton to another city, disrupting a seminar where he spoke. “I was really worried they were going to hurt him,” the organiser of the seminar said. The British embassy has officially complained to the Russian foreign ministry, pointing out that Moscow is breaking the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which demands that foreign envoys be treated with “due respect” and shielded from attacks on their “person, freedom and dignity”.

Foreign ministry officials privately agree that Nashi’s behaviour is outrageous and goes well beyond peaceful protest. But they claim there is little they can do: Nashi is too close to the Kremlin. It has close ties with Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, as well as Mr Putin himself. Nashi said it supported the Kremlin line, met Mr Surkov regularly and received funding from “large, nationally oriented companies”. Its main task was to prevent the spread of “colour revolutions” of the kind that swept Ukraine and Georgia.

The word Nashi has a rich and poignant history, featuring in the novels of Dostoevsky. It was used in the early 1990s by Alexander Nevzorov, a crusading TV presenter, to extol Russian paratroopers trying to suppress popular uprisings in the Baltic states. Nashi claims that it is building a civil society in Russia and fighting against fascism. However, as Sir Tom put it, for people like these, “unpalatable argument is fascism – interrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech”.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Kremlin’s Youth Cult on the Rampage

The Financial Times reports on the rampage against British diplomats by the Kremlin’s crazed youth cult “Nashi” (“We Russian Slavs“) in the wake of the Litvinenko killing.

They don’t look too dangerous in the propaganda photo, do they? Stalin looked quite dapper in his moustache too, and remember the perils of the mermaid’s siren song! But read on, dear reader, read on . . . let the facts speak for themselves.

It was shortly after Anthony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, spoke about the challenges to freedom in Russia that a young blond man thrust himself forward and started to yell at the top of his voice: “Brenton, apologise!”

The stunt this week at the Humanities University in Moscow – where Mr Brenton was speaking alongside Sir Tom Stoppard, the British playwright whose trilogy about 19th-century Russian thinkers is being staged in Moscow – was not a one-off prank by an attention-seeking youth. It was part of a well-organised harassment campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship between Moscow and London.

The young man was a member of Nashi (“Our Own”): a Kremlin-sponsored youth movement with a well-earned reputation for thuggery. The organisation, which claims to have 7,000 active members and another 8,000 sympathisers has been stalking the UK ambassador seven days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under considerable strain. “It is a deliberate psychological harassment which is done professionally and which borders on violence,” says Mr Brenton.

Robert Shlegel, of Nashi, whose leaders regularly meet President Vladimir Putin, says this is retribution for Mr Brenton. The British ambassador was “guilty” of speaking at a conference of political opposition parties in Moscow shortly before the summit of Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in St Petersburg in the summer. Igor Shuvalov, an aide to Mr Putin, warned that attending the event – as several western ambassadors did – would be interpreted as an unfriendly act. No sooner had the G8 leaders left Russia than Nashi began its campaign, demanding an apology from the UK ambassador for “endorsing fascists”.

The Nashi case is one part of the souring in Anglo-Russian relations. London’s granting in 2003 of political asylum to Boris Berezovsky, the renegade oligarch, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen opposition leader, infuriated Moscow. British Council offices in Moscow were raided in response and UK diplomats publicly accused of espionage. Images of a radio transmitter disguised as a rock allegedly planted by British spies were later broadcast by Russian state television.

The British investigation of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer, is likely to strain the relationship further. Spy rows and expulsions featured regularly in Anglo-Russian relations in Soviet times. But former British diplomats say that even the communists did not use personal intimidation and harassment of ambassadors and their families. Nashi members follow Mr Brenton with banners at weekends, shout abuse at him, block his car and advertise all his movements on the internet.

Earlier this month a group of Nashi supporters followed Mr Brenton to another city, disrupting a seminar where he spoke. “I was really worried they were going to hurt him,” the organiser of the seminar said. The British embassy has officially complained to the Russian foreign ministry, pointing out that Moscow is breaking the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which demands that foreign envoys be treated with “due respect” and shielded from attacks on their “person, freedom and dignity”.

Foreign ministry officials privately agree that Nashi’s behaviour is outrageous and goes well beyond peaceful protest. But they claim there is little they can do: Nashi is too close to the Kremlin. It has close ties with Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, as well as Mr Putin himself. Nashi said it supported the Kremlin line, met Mr Surkov regularly and received funding from “large, nationally oriented companies”. Its main task was to prevent the spread of “colour revolutions” of the kind that swept Ukraine and Georgia.

The word Nashi has a rich and poignant history, featuring in the novels of Dostoevsky. It was used in the early 1990s by Alexander Nevzorov, a crusading TV presenter, to extol Russian paratroopers trying to suppress popular uprisings in the Baltic states. Nashi claims that it is building a civil society in Russia and fighting against fascism. However, as Sir Tom put it, for people like these, “unpalatable argument is fascism – interrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech”.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Kremlin’s Youth Cult on the Rampage

The Financial Times reports on the rampage against British diplomats by the Kremlin’s crazed youth cult “Nashi” (“We Russian Slavs“) in the wake of the Litvinenko killing.

They don’t look too dangerous in the propaganda photo, do they? Stalin looked quite dapper in his moustache too, and remember the perils of the mermaid’s siren song! But read on, dear reader, read on . . . let the facts speak for themselves.

It was shortly after Anthony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, spoke about the challenges to freedom in Russia that a young blond man thrust himself forward and started to yell at the top of his voice: “Brenton, apologise!”

The stunt this week at the Humanities University in Moscow – where Mr Brenton was speaking alongside Sir Tom Stoppard, the British playwright whose trilogy about 19th-century Russian thinkers is being staged in Moscow – was not a one-off prank by an attention-seeking youth. It was part of a well-organised harassment campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship between Moscow and London.

The young man was a member of Nashi (“Our Own”): a Kremlin-sponsored youth movement with a well-earned reputation for thuggery. The organisation, which claims to have 7,000 active members and another 8,000 sympathisers has been stalking the UK ambassador seven days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under considerable strain. “It is a deliberate psychological harassment which is done professionally and which borders on violence,” says Mr Brenton.

Robert Shlegel, of Nashi, whose leaders regularly meet President Vladimir Putin, says this is retribution for Mr Brenton. The British ambassador was “guilty” of speaking at a conference of political opposition parties in Moscow shortly before the summit of Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in St Petersburg in the summer. Igor Shuvalov, an aide to Mr Putin, warned that attending the event – as several western ambassadors did – would be interpreted as an unfriendly act. No sooner had the G8 leaders left Russia than Nashi began its campaign, demanding an apology from the UK ambassador for “endorsing fascists”.

The Nashi case is one part of the souring in Anglo-Russian relations. London’s granting in 2003 of political asylum to Boris Berezovsky, the renegade oligarch, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen opposition leader, infuriated Moscow. British Council offices in Moscow were raided in response and UK diplomats publicly accused of espionage. Images of a radio transmitter disguised as a rock allegedly planted by British spies were later broadcast by Russian state television.

The British investigation of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer, is likely to strain the relationship further. Spy rows and expulsions featured regularly in Anglo-Russian relations in Soviet times. But former British diplomats say that even the communists did not use personal intimidation and harassment of ambassadors and their families. Nashi members follow Mr Brenton with banners at weekends, shout abuse at him, block his car and advertise all his movements on the internet.

Earlier this month a group of Nashi supporters followed Mr Brenton to another city, disrupting a seminar where he spoke. “I was really worried they were going to hurt him,” the organiser of the seminar said. The British embassy has officially complained to the Russian foreign ministry, pointing out that Moscow is breaking the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which demands that foreign envoys be treated with “due respect” and shielded from attacks on their “person, freedom and dignity”.

Foreign ministry officials privately agree that Nashi’s behaviour is outrageous and goes well beyond peaceful protest. But they claim there is little they can do: Nashi is too close to the Kremlin. It has close ties with Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, as well as Mr Putin himself. Nashi said it supported the Kremlin line, met Mr Surkov regularly and received funding from “large, nationally oriented companies”. Its main task was to prevent the spread of “colour revolutions” of the kind that swept Ukraine and Georgia.

The word Nashi has a rich and poignant history, featuring in the novels of Dostoevsky. It was used in the early 1990s by Alexander Nevzorov, a crusading TV presenter, to extol Russian paratroopers trying to suppress popular uprisings in the Baltic states. Nashi claims that it is building a civil society in Russia and fighting against fascism. However, as Sir Tom put it, for people like these, “unpalatable argument is fascism – interrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech”.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Kremlin’s Youth Cult on the Rampage

The Financial Times reports on the rampage against British diplomats by the Kremlin’s crazed youth cult “Nashi” (“We Russian Slavs“) in the wake of the Litvinenko killing.

They don’t look too dangerous in the propaganda photo, do they? Stalin looked quite dapper in his moustache too, and remember the perils of the mermaid’s siren song! But read on, dear reader, read on . . . let the facts speak for themselves.

It was shortly after Anthony Brenton, Britain’s ambassador to Moscow, spoke about the challenges to freedom in Russia that a young blond man thrust himself forward and started to yell at the top of his voice: “Brenton, apologise!”

The stunt this week at the Humanities University in Moscow – where Mr Brenton was speaking alongside Sir Tom Stoppard, the British playwright whose trilogy about 19th-century Russian thinkers is being staged in Moscow – was not a one-off prank by an attention-seeking youth. It was part of a well-organised harassment campaign against the ambassador, apparently waged with the knowledge of the Kremlin, that is a striking symptom of the worsening relationship between Moscow and London.

The young man was a member of Nashi (“Our Own”): a Kremlin-sponsored youth movement with a well-earned reputation for thuggery. The organisation, which claims to have 7,000 active members and another 8,000 sympathisers has been stalking the UK ambassador seven days a week for the past four months, putting him and his family under considerable strain. “It is a deliberate psychological harassment which is done professionally and which borders on violence,” says Mr Brenton.

Robert Shlegel, of Nashi, whose leaders regularly meet President Vladimir Putin, says this is retribution for Mr Brenton. The British ambassador was “guilty” of speaking at a conference of political opposition parties in Moscow shortly before the summit of Group of Eight leading industrialised countries in St Petersburg in the summer. Igor Shuvalov, an aide to Mr Putin, warned that attending the event – as several western ambassadors did – would be interpreted as an unfriendly act. No sooner had the G8 leaders left Russia than Nashi began its campaign, demanding an apology from the UK ambassador for “endorsing fascists”.

The Nashi case is one part of the souring in Anglo-Russian relations. London’s granting in 2003 of political asylum to Boris Berezovsky, the renegade oligarch, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen opposition leader, infuriated Moscow. British Council offices in Moscow were raided in response and UK diplomats publicly accused of espionage. Images of a radio transmitter disguised as a rock allegedly planted by British spies were later broadcast by Russian state television.

The British investigation of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB officer, is likely to strain the relationship further. Spy rows and expulsions featured regularly in Anglo-Russian relations in Soviet times. But former British diplomats say that even the communists did not use personal intimidation and harassment of ambassadors and their families. Nashi members follow Mr Brenton with banners at weekends, shout abuse at him, block his car and advertise all his movements on the internet.

Earlier this month a group of Nashi supporters followed Mr Brenton to another city, disrupting a seminar where he spoke. “I was really worried they were going to hurt him,” the organiser of the seminar said. The British embassy has officially complained to the Russian foreign ministry, pointing out that Moscow is breaking the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, which demands that foreign envoys be treated with “due respect” and shielded from attacks on their “person, freedom and dignity”.

Foreign ministry officials privately agree that Nashi’s behaviour is outrageous and goes well beyond peaceful protest. But they claim there is little they can do: Nashi is too close to the Kremlin. It has close ties with Vladislav Surkov, the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, as well as Mr Putin himself. Nashi said it supported the Kremlin line, met Mr Surkov regularly and received funding from “large, nationally oriented companies”. Its main task was to prevent the spread of “colour revolutions” of the kind that swept Ukraine and Georgia.

The word Nashi has a rich and poignant history, featuring in the novels of Dostoevsky. It was used in the early 1990s by Alexander Nevzorov, a crusading TV presenter, to extol Russian paratroopers trying to suppress popular uprisings in the Baltic states. Nashi claims that it is building a civil society in Russia and fighting against fascism. However, as Sir Tom put it, for people like these, “unpalatable argument is fascism – interrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech”.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

LR on PP

Check out La Russophobe‘s latest installment on Publius Pundit, where she debunks the russophile attempts to deflect blame from the Kremlin in the Litvinenko and Gaidar attacks (just as they predictably tried to do after the killing of Politkovskaya). Feel free to add your thoughts to this interesting and important debate regarding the involvement of the Kremlin in the demise of its critics and the appropriate Western response. How many Kremlin foes will have to give up their lives before the Russophile maniacs will agree there is a problem? 100? 1,000? 10,000? Are there even that many open critics of the Kremlin in Russia?

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

The Mailbag: Thoughts on Litvinenko

A reader offers fasinating and insightful thoughts on the Litvinenko killing (all readers are welcome to submit material for publication consideration, anonymity assured if desired):

I have been spending an unhealthy amount of my spare time in the last couple of days reading about it and it really does seem to be an incredibly complex web of intrigue. So I find myself thinking what statements are the most likely to be true, grading down to the least likely. Of course, the British Police investigators will get as near to the full story as anyone can, but I don’t know if it will be near enough. I also don’t know if their findings will be made fully public or if the government will hide them so as not to rock the boat.

Anyway, in the (left leaning) Guardian and Observer, they have repeated the Russian allegation that Litvinenko had threatened to blackmail anti-Russian contacts of his, because he was short of money. This then would make it plausible that Berezovski would have him killed knowing he was really no friend of his, while at the same time creating the anti-Russian reactions that we have seen. I have to say that I have not heard this allegation repeated on British television news.

It has also been reported that Berezovski bankrolled Litvinenko and Zakayev, and paid for them both to live(in houses opposite each other) in north London. (I assume at the very least, it is true that they were neighbours). This actually begs the question: if Berezovski was happy to pay them some of his “$500m fortune”, why did Litvinenko want to get £10000 each from his ex contacts by blackmail? The newspaper websites also published an absolutely wierd photograph of Litvinenko posing threateningly with a Chechen sword in front of a Union Jack. They also mention other very strange things about his personality.

Meanwhile, Scaramella has been described on British news as a shady character who lied about his lectureship in two different universities. However, he was described on a mainly Russophile website “Europe Tribune”, as definitely being a lecturer at a university in Italy (I think it was Milan). However, the worst thing about Scaramella is that he appears to have lied to the Italian authorities about a couple of things, including saying that the Soviet navy had placed a lot of nuclear torpedoes in the Bay of Naples. And yet, he was apparently a friend of Litvinenko, or at least a trusted contact.

Another thing that is hard to swallow is Scaramella’s accusation that Romano Prodi was really a KGB agent. That could be an even bigger story than Litvinenko. I’m sure that I am not the first to suggest that maybe Scaramella is an FSB (or SVR) plant, put into the Mitrokhin Commission to make a lot of false allegations and discredit the commission itself.

Meanwhile, an apparently independent Irish reporter has testified that Gaidar was only briefly unconcious and that doctors believe he was suffering from the effects of his diabetes – in flat contradiction to Gaidar’s daughter’s account. And yet, how wierd is it that Gaidar (a man with anti-putin ideas, and with a daughter absolutely opposed to Putin) should collapse in the middle of a speech, coughing up blood the day after Litvinenko was diagnosed with chemical poisoning. How often do government officials collapse in the middle of speeches coughing up blood?! Now the Russians say he was poisoned!

It has occurred to me that on this very important issue, the FSB would think that, if they were not working strenuously at putting out information – probably disinformation – they were not doing their job. Therefore it is not just possible, but likely that some of the information being written and copied in cyberspace, and the blogosphere was put there by the FSB.

If Litvinenko really was a whacko, does it mean that it was OK to poison him with Polonium? I don’t think so. And when the Russian authorities say they had no reason to kill someone so unimportant, what about the fact that he wrote a book that could bring down Putin’s government and so they destroyed 4500 copies of it and prevented its publication in Russia? Putin reportedly said that the suggestion that he was responsible for the Moscow apartment bombings was a crime itself. Litvinenko not only suggested it, he wrote a book about it.

It is also interesting to think about Russian statements since the poisoning. On approximately the day the news broke they apparently said “if you want to find who did it, look at the people standing around his bed”. Also, since the British police arrived in Russia the authorities have said “the investigation is OK as long as it does not include the Kremlin”, and “it is OK but no one should try to politicise this”.

Surely, if this killing was done to discredit them as they claim, they should have been more than willing to help to find the perpetrators. Perhaps they should have sent some Russian police to London to cooperate with the British police. Because after all, the perpetrators would have been as much enemies of Russia as of Britain.

Finally, the Russian authorities said that the idea that the Polonium 210 probably originated in Russia was “absolutely ridiculous”. I hope that all thinking people in the world treat this statement with the ridicule that it deserves.

It is of course ridiculous to think that I am capable of working out all of the details of Litvinenko’s murder. However, I hope that you may find some of these stories and observations useful.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

A Pop Quiz

A recent item on the REGNUM wire stated:

Answering the question “If a referendum on unification of the former Soviet republics into a new alliance would be held today, would you vote for the alliance or against it?”, [voting for unification were] 51% in Russia, 45% in Ukraine, and 36% in Belarus).

Which headline do you think appeared above this statement (no fair clicking!):

(a) Among former Soviet Republics, only Russia favors reunification (and then by only bare majority)

(b) Half of Russian and Ukrainian citizens ready to vote for unification of former USSR republics

That’s right, you guessed it, (b) of course! And what’s more, the report indicates that Kazakhstan was also surveyed, and there is no mention of its results at all (and no link to the poll data sources). The report states: “At that the percentage of those feeling sorry for the collapse of the Soviet Union is the highest in Russia (68%).” So it’s only Russians who “regret” the loss of the USSR, which they dominated, and even then 17% fewer people will vote for reunification than think the destruction of the USSR was a pity — obviously because they can clearly see the wretched economies that their imperialist policies have inflicted and don’t want to become responsible for them. (If anybody knows where the poll data referred to here can be found, please clue us in).

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

You Go, Girl! Katie Couric Blasts Putin

Katie Couric, the first female network news anchor, has launched an attack on Vladimir Putin. On her blog she states:

Investigators from around the world are now involved in trying to crack one of the biggest spy scandals in recent memory: the death–by poisoning–of a former KGB agent, living in London, who was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alexander Litvinenko was killed by what one expert called a “tiny nuclear bomb” in the form of the rare radioactive substance Polonium 210…and, on his deathbed, he said Putin did it. And then last week, more bombshells: the former Russian prime minister was also poisoned. An Italian security expert, who told Litvinenko that they were targets, tested positive for radiation poisoning…and so did Litvinenko’s wife. While Russia denies that Putin is behind it, all these coincidences raise serious questions about an important American ally. President Bush once said he looked into Putin’s soul and saw a good man. But maybe it’s time for a second look.

Watch her video presentation “Putin on the Brink.” If the Kremlin has managed to piss of Katie Couric, that’s about as massive a public relations fiasco as you can get, just another nail in the neo-Soviet coffin. Clearly, a good deal of Couric’s ire is directed at George Bush, and Putin’s cuddling up to this increasingly despised figure is yet another gross miscalculation on his part. What’s more, Putin couldn’t even be consistent in supporting Bush, but rather grievously undermined him when he moved against Iraq, in some part contributing to Bush’s downfall.

And so it goes in Russia.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

CNN Announces Russia Week

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — In the first of a series of special reports — Becky’s Briefing — CNN anchor Becky Anderson has provided this special insight into some of the behind-the-scenes work that has gone into Russia Week which begins on Monday.

She has traveled to Moscow with producer Wayne Gray to report on the some of the most important issues gripping what is, arguably, the most fascinating country on the planet.

Drawing on CNN’s well developed network of contacts and correspondents she will join colleagues as they address issues as diverse as energy and image.

For this first broadcast, Becky is joined by Wayne in Moscow’s historic Pushkin Cafe to talk about the week ahead. (Click here to watch the video — 2:16)

Share your opinions and thoughts on Russia via I-Report (click here.)

Russia Week packages air throughout the week on CNN, including on Your World Today (Monday to Friday, 4 to 8 p.m., CET.)

World News Europe will be anchored live from Moscow by Becky Anderson (weekdays 9 to 9.30 p.m. and 10 to 10.30 p.m. CET.)

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

Jimmy Carter has Gone Plumb Loco

You may remember James Earl “Just Call me Jimmy the Hillbilly” Carter as the “man” who “thought” that the best way to respond to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was to boycott the Moscow Olympiad (rather than go there and kick some Russian ass after giving massive military assistance to the freedom fighters).

Now it seems that good ole boy Jimmy has gone right round the bend, publishing a book so full of a factual errors that the New York Times, whose editors can barely keep themselves from French-kissing Jimmy just like Brezhnev did, actually mentioned it and a member of his own team at the Carter Center resigned in protest and shock. Blue Crab Boulevard has the details.

Thanks for reading La Russophobe !

On the Trail of Craven Killers

Here is the latest from the Times of London on the Litvinenko investigation, including a graphic (Lugovoy’s London trail) illustrating the traces of polonium poison found throughout the city, which leads British law enforcement closer and closer to the Kremlin and its henchmen:

British detectives have questioned a Russian businessman who entertained Alexander Litvinenko in a London hotel on the day the former spy fell ill.

At the same time Scotland Yard confirmed that the investigation into Litvinenko’s death by radiation poisoning had become a murder inquiry.

Police have been following the trail across London left by Dimitri Kovtun and his close friend, Andrei Lugovoy. It includes a number of locations where polonium-210 has been found.

Mr Kovtun was interviewed by Russian prosecutors yesterday in the presence of the British detectives, who arrived in Moscow on Monday. He and and Mr Lugovoy were in the same Moscow clinic last night being tested for contamination by polonium-210.

Diplomats in the Russian capital also confirmed that traces of radiation had been discovered in the British Embassy, which the businessmen visited shortly after news of Litvinenko’s poisoning became public. The two men gave written statements to embassy officials and expressed their willingness to co-operate in any British inquiry.

The lawyer representing the two businessmen, Andrei Romashov, emphasised that they were being treated “as witnesses”. He disclosed that Mr Kovtun had also been interviewed briefly on Tuesday about his two trips to London.

A third Russian businessman, Vyacheslav Sokolenko, who also flew to London to watch a football match on November 1, is on the list of men British detectives want to meet.

All three men met Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London, and were among the last to see him before he succumbed to the effects of the radiation poison. They have all strenuously denied any part in his death.

Mr Lugovoy, a former KGB officer whose company is worth £50 million, has said that he believes he has been framed and is worried about how seriously he has been contaminated by polonium-210. There were reports last week from Moscow that he had been tested and showed no signs of exposure.

He denies he is trying to avoid a meeting with the detectives and says that he is fed up with allegations that he was involved in the poison plot.

Detectives working on the London end of the murder inquiry are concentrating on identifying where Mr Lugovoy went and whom he met during three trips he made in the fortnight before his former colleague was fatally poisoned.

What police have found startling is that at eight locations on the Lugovoy trail traces of polonium-210 have already been found; experts are still testing other sites.

Mr Lugovoy visited five of the sites with Litvinenko, including the Itsu sushi bar where friends of the former KGB colonel suspect he was poisoned. Mr Lugovoy says that he went there on October 16 at Litvinenko’s invitation. He told The Times: “It was one of his favourites in London. He said it was a good place to talk.”

But the poison victim was never at the Arsenal football ground, where Mr Lugovoy and a party of wealthy Russians went to watch a match on November 1. Nor was he on either of the two British Airways Boeing 767s on which Mr Lugovoy flew from Moscow and on which radioactive material was discovered.

Police are surprised that polonium-210 was found in guest rooms at both the Millennium Hotel and at the Sheraton Park Lane, when Mr Lugovoy maintains that he met Litvinenko only in the public bars and the foyers of both hotels. Mr Lugovoy’s version of events is that whoever poisoned his former colleague also contaminated him to implicate him in the plot and draw police away from the real culprits.

He and Mr Kovtun have been friends since their teenage days, when they went to the same military academy. The third man on their football trip to London, Mr Sokolenko, was at the same army college.

Mr Kovtun says that together they built up the Pershin company and that they met Litvinenko to discuss a business proposal.

A second Times story continues:

As Scotland Yard announced that it is treating Alexander Litvinenko’s death as murder, the suspicion is that whoever smuggled the radioactive isotope into Britain, they are not the assassin. Evidence suggests that a sizeable team was sent from Moscow to shadow its prey, and that this surveillance squad may not have known the identity of the killer. Scotland Yard said that it was “important to stress that we have not reached any conclusions as to the means employed, the motive or the identity of those who might be responsible for Mr Litvinenko’s death”. It added that it would not speculate on the many theories offered by friends of Mr Litvinenko as to who orchestrated the poison plot. After a frustrating first day in Moscow, the nine-strong police team held meetings with the Prosecutor General’s staff to try to remove some obstacles. Last night Yuri Chaika, the Prosecutor General, issued a statement saying: “Despite the fact that the UK’s request for legal assistance has some departures from international standards, Russian and British officers have begun investigations.” Russian newspapers suggested that Scotland Yard’s investigation had been rendered toothless. The Vremya Novostei newspaper headlined its front page report with Mr Chaika’s comment: “We are doing the interrogating and they (Scotland Yard) are present.”

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