Boris Volodarsky - The KGBs Poison Factory : From Lenin to Litvinenko

The KGBs Poison Factory: From Lenin to Litvinenko

This edition published in 2009 by Frontline Books, an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS

and

First published and distributed in the United States of America and Canada in 2010

by Zenith Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company,

400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

Copyright Boris Volodarsky, 2009

The right of Boris Volodarsky to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him

in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Frontline edition: ISBN 978-1-84832-542-5

Zenith Press edition: ISBN 978-0-7603-3753-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced

into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to

criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP data record for this title is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Volodarsky, Boris.

KGBs Poison Factory: from Lenin to Litvinenko/Boris Volodarsky.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7603-3753-0 (hbk. w/jkt)

1. Soviet Union. Komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti--History. 2. Russian S.F.S.R.

Chrezvychainaia komissiia po borbe s kontr-revoliutsiei i sabotazhem--History. 3.

Russia (Federation). Federalnoe agentstvo pravitelstvennoi sviazi i informatsii--History.

4. Poisoning--Political aspects--Soviet Union--History. 5. Poisoning--Political aspects-

Russia (Federation)--History. 6. Assassination--Case studies. 7. Political crimes and

offenses--Case studies. 8. Murder victims--Biography. 9. Soviet Union--Politics and

government. 10. Russia (Federation)--Politics and government. I. Title.

JN6529.I6V64 2010

327.124700922--dc22

2009042348

For more information on Frontline Books, please visit www.frontline-books.com,

email info@frontline-books.com or write to us at the above address.

To find out more about Zenith Press titles, visit us online at www.zenithpress.com.

Typeset by Palindrome

Printed in the UK by the MPG Books Group

Those, who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their societys ills on the West know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history

US President Barack Obama

To this author: Leo, stick close to those you know, love and trust today. Theres a lot of duplicity around and someone really, really doesnt like you. You dont like them either, but that wont be any comfort if you fall prey to their plans.

Nikki Harper

For my family

I am deeply grateful to the many people who helped in this project. Some, in fact, were absolutely instrumental in bringing it to life. I am grateful to them all, but first of all, I thank my wife, Valentina. She was as always the first reader and gave daily support and encouragement as well as valuable ideas and comments.

Without William Green, a Washingtonian and an American in the very best sense of this word, this book would never have seen the light of the day.

My British publisher, Michael Leventhal, entrusted me this project and was patient and understanding as it progressed.

As often happens, there are people who, unfortunately, cannot be named, but whose opinion and friendly advice were important for the better understanding of many processes behind the scenes. Thank you, Jim and Richard, for kindly sharing your vast experience.

After Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley published his Spy Wars, he agreed to spend time and effort reading and correcting the text. My gratitude to Pete is profound while any errors that remain are exclusively my fault.

I thank Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko for the many hours they have spent with me discussing the case.

Two journalists and authors, Steve LeVine and Pete Earley, helped a lot. And the outstanding historians (and good friends) Professor Paul Preston of the London School of Economics and Professor Angel Vias of the University of Madrid (Complutense) provided great support and help.

Another good friend, Paolo Guzzanti, member of the Italian parliament and former President of the Mitrokhin Commission, helped unlock many doors to better understanding of the Italian part of the Litvinenko story and of the people and events involved. Pal Salamon of the Open Society Archives in Budapest sent me many documents pertinent to the Lapusnyik case. Alexandra Bajka kindly provided footage from the latest documentary filmed by her Polish TVN television channel that threw new light on the life and death of Nikolai Artamonov. Max Fisher of the Windfall Films, London, kindly gave video material covering the Markov case in its modern perspective. And many thanks to Michael Mann, a famous Hollywood film director, screenwriter and producer, and his assistant Maria Norman, for all they did.

I was buoyed up by the interest, encouragement and good humour these men and women showed me throughout the months of research and writing. Without them I could not have done it. Thank you!

In February 1997 the then director of the Aeroflot office in Vienna, Konstantin Bushlanov called my wife to ask for a favour. A Very Important Person Mr Bushlanov gave no name at that stage was expected to arrive from Moscow and would Valentina be kind enough to use her knowledge and contacts to recommend a discreet luxury hotel in the Austrian Alps in order for the family of the VIP to have a great and so much deserved skiing holiday.

The reason for the call to this particular number was simple. Several months before my wife and I had started publishing a magazine that we called Business Lunch that purported to give guidance and advice to the new breed of the Russian millionaires who had started to spend their money abroad without any particular knowledge of what was commonly understood in the West as quality: fine wines, excellent food, top-class hotels with understatement and bespoke tailoring. Their usual choice of accommodation was the Ritz in London and Paris (not that I have anything against the Ritz) and typical must-have objects were Versace clothes, leathers and furniture. For jewellery many of the Russian nouveaux riches preferred either the Chopard or Chanel brands that proudly called themselves haut joaillerie. Such places as Savile Row in London or the Widder Hotel in Zrich were not yet on their map, while the new Ralph Lauren flagship store on Old Bond Street was still under construction. So we thought it might be a good idea to earn a little money from advertisers while at the same time giving good advice to the readers. Our Business Lunch became quite popular and, what was more important, Konstantin Bushlanov arranged for its free distribution on board Aeroflot flights going to and from Vienna. Besides, he was a nice, friendly guy, almost certainly not one of those GRU (Russian military intelligence) members who occupied most of the slots in the Aeroflot offices around the world.

Obviously, it was our duty to help: my wife immediately answered that we indeed had contacts in a very suitable venue just outside Salzburg. The offer was quickly accepted and we rushed off to have a discreet talk with Frau Herzog, the owner.