Several people have asked me what my opinion is on the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London,\u00a0perhaps thinking that I’d be able to give an interesting answer.\u00a0 Sadly, I can’t.\u00a0 The fact is that he was poisoned, but the enormous media coverage of where the blame lies\u00a0consists entirely\u00a0of\u00a0speculation\u00a0with no actual evidence.<\/p>\n
Was Putin personally involved?\u00a0 Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t.\u00a0 The latter is equally as likely as the former, more so in fact, and\u00a0impossible to prove either way.\u00a0 Was the Russian government involved?\u00a0 The Economist<\/a><\/em> answered this well:<\/p>\n But for all the talk of Mr Putin’s authoritarianism, the Russian state is chaotic, factional, corrupt and criminalised; its nominal servants engage in lots of shady activities without Kremlin approval.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Indeed.\u00a0 Unlike how western governments are sometimes perceived, there is no rigid organisation with clear accountabilities, loyalties, and reporting lines which underpin the Russian government.\u00a0 Even if it is proven that the Russian government was involved in Mr Litvinenko’s death, the news could well come as\u00a0something of a surprise to Putin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Several people have asked me what my opinion is on the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London,\u00a0perhaps thinking that I’d be able to give an interesting answer.\u00a0 Sadly, I can’t.\u00a0 The fact is that he was poisoned, but the enormous … Continue reading