Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Former Russian Spy 'Poisoned' In London

Aleksandr Litvinenko, pictured in 1998 (epa)

November 19, 2006 -- Police in Britain have confirmed they are investigating whether a former Russian intelligence agent turned Kremlin critic was poisoned.

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November 19, 2006

British media report that Aleksander Litvinenko was taken ill on November 1 while investigating the recent murder of Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who had criticized Kremlin policy on the rebellion in Chechnya.

Litvinenko defected to Britain six years ago and was granted British citizenship last month.

One of the highest-profile defectors from Russia's Federal Security Service, Litvinenko is on a wanted list in Moscow, where he has made powerful enemies with his severe criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

(AP, Reuters)

Remembering Anna Politkovskaya

Anna Politkovskaya at RFE/RL in July 2006 (RFE/RL)

A BRAVE VOICE SILENCED. Prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed on October 7 in her Moscow apartment building. An outspoken critic of the Kremlin, she was best-known for her reporting on the conflict in Chechnya. Former Soviet President Gorbachev called her slaying "a true political homicide, a vendetta."

Chechens Mourn Politkovskaya As 'Last Hope'

Politkovskaya Investigating Chechen Torture At Time Of Death

Her Last Interview

Where Was Putin?

Two Journalists Die In Contract Killings A Year

For regular news and analysis on media issues throughout RFE/RL's broadcast area by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Media Matters."

Syrians in the northwestern town of Kfar Nubul pose with a cartoon depicting Russia

Angry Over Syria, Arab World Threatens Russian Boycott

Groups in a number of Arab states, angry over the Russian-Chinese veto of a UN resolution aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, have called for a one-day boycott of Russian and Chinese goods on February 12. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Protesters gather behind a banner reading "Honest Elections" during a demonstration in Moscow on February 4.

How To Rig An Election

A whistle-blower in Samara explains how the authorities fixed the Duma elections in December -- and plan to do the same in the presidential vote in March. More