The UK is investigating the suspected poisoning of Sergei Skripal, an ex-Russian spy, and his daughter. Police say they were specifically targeted with a nerve agent buzzfeed.com/hannahalothman…
The story has been compared to the infamous 2006 murder-by-polonium of Alexander Litvinenko.
But in the past year BuzzFeed News has exposed 14 suspected Russian killings in the West — all of which police have declared non-suspicious
But in the past year BuzzFeed News has exposed 14 suspected Russian killings in the West — all of which police have declared non-suspicious
Alexander Perepilichnyy, a financier who exposed a vast financial crime by Russian government officials. Traces of a rare plant poison were found in his system. US spies told the UK he was likely assassinated on Kremlin orders buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/poi…
Scot Young, a high-flying fixer for Boris Berezovsky and others, died suspiciously in London after making powerful enemies in Russia. Police ruled his death a suicide within 30 minutes, without without doing basic forensics buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/fro…
Matthew Puncher, a scientist who worked on the Litvinenko inquiry. He was found with “extensive” stab and slash wounds from 2 separate knives. Police also called this a suicide buzzfeed.com/janebradley/sc…
Gareth Williams, a GCHQ spy, was found decomposing inside a padlocked sports bag. He had been helping the NSA trace international money-laundering routes used by Moscow-based mafia cells. Yet Scotland Yard called this an accident buzzfeed.com/tomwarren/secr…
In the US, the former head of Russia Today was found with blunt-force injuries to the neck, head, and torso in a Washington hotel. Investigators announced that an alcohol-fueled “accident” killed Mikhail Lesin, but FBI agents cast doubts on this buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/p…
The police file, obtained by BuzzFeed News, says nothing about Lesin’s blunt force injuries, or even about him falling down, which is how he was supposed to have died. And, a disc of critical hotel security footage was defective buzzfeed.com/jasonleopold/p…
That makes 14 deaths in the UK, and one in the US.
In the wake of the Skripal news, the chairs of the Commons Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs committees have called on the government to investigate all 14 cases.
In the wake of the Skripal news, the chairs of the Commons Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs committees have called on the government to investigate all 14 cases.
UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson said he would discuss Perepilichnyy's death with the Home Office, but he hasn't given an answer on the others.
The call for a public inquiry into all 14 deaths comes from senior MPs across the political spectrum.
The call for a public inquiry into all 14 deaths comes from senior MPs across the political spectrum.
