5 ms·

> It doesn't always seem to kill the victim and makes it easy to identify the perps as state actors. As others have said, identifying a state actor is a featur

> It doesn't always seem to kill the victim and makes it easy to identify the perps as state actors. As others have said, identifying a state actor is a feature, not a bug. However, what others have neglected to point out, is that it's unreliable - and that is a feature, too. We can't easily identify the state actor. Polonium-210 pointed at Russia obviously, but Russia has also utilized dioxides (vs. Shchekochikhin), and opioids (fentanyl) (to wipe out the hostage-takers in the Dubrovka theater). The result is that Russia sends a message: we will reach out and kill our critics and defectors. Bullets don't have the same effect: a critic dies in his sleep. Was it a drop of fentanyl? Maybe. Maybe. The absence or presence of poison will be speculated on; the absence or presence of bullets is clear-cut. Through the use of poisons which vary in their ability to point the finger at Russia, any death of a critic that could plausibly be linked to a poisoning now raises the specter of Russian intervention. The result is that their psychological warfare is extended far beyond their actual reach. The KGB/FSB has always had a very significant attention to psych-ops. Their actions should not be interpreted strictly at face value.

cynicalkane 8y ago
I have a hypothesis that the polonium poisoners weren't planning on being detected. Polonium has no side effects other than radiation poisoning which can't be detected outside the body. To diagnose it, one would have to go looking for trace amounts in the body or in contaminated areas. If the poisoners weren't aware of the extreme sensitivity of alpha-particle detection -- reliably accurate to the single particle level -- they might have thought polonium would be undetectable and untraceable. Or they might of thought nobody would ever think to look for it. By some accounts, they almost didn't.
- sephamorr 8y ago
  You're spot on here. As I understand, the Russian state was quite surprised at the capabilities of Western detection science. It was certainly not common knowledge that low-concentration alpha emitters (still plenty poisonous) could be detected in blood, nor that the assassins could be tracked all the way back to Russia just from their limited exposure.
  - cynicalkane 8y ago
    The science is actually old and certainly known to physicists around the world. Such detectors are readily available to university physics laboratories, for example. But if you don't have a physics background, it might never occur to you that such technology exists.
losteric 8y ago
Poison can also be deployed by untrained individuals coerced into service, and bypass metal detectors as well as bullet-proof vests used by paranoid targets.
- meowface 8y ago
  And an obvious point: Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths, and to send a message that other enemies will suffer a similar fate. Killing Litvinenko or Skripal with a bullet to the head probably wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough.
  - Bendingo 8y ago
    > Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths > wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough You know this how ?
    - GW150914 8y ago
      > Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths > wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough You know this how ? Alexander Litvenenko springs to mind, followed by Viktor Yushchenko, Alexander Perepilichny, Anna Politkovskaya (later shot to death), Vladimir Kara-Murza (twice!), the Skripals, Georgi Markov (Ricin... nasty), Karinna Moskalenko, and on and on.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
    > Russia wants important enemies to die slow I know this is a common oversimplification when talking about governments, but please, could we at last use "Kremlin" instead? Russia is a large country with many people just like us, who want to live, love and have a wonderful time. Sure, at times the public opinion is stirred when some atrocities are reported and you can hear some vocal groups online, but Russians are not different from any other nation in this respect. Their leaders, however, are a different story. You could say Russians have had bad luck with respect to their rulers for centuries. When you look back at what Lenin, Stalin and others did, Putin starts to look like a savior. But they all have a certain attitude and ambitions. So could we please stop saying "Russia" when we don't mean Russian people at all, and common Russians are actually victims of bad policy of their rulers.
dzhiurgis 8y ago
> opioids (fentanyl) (to wipe out the hostage-takers in the Dubrovka theater) They used Carfentanil (100x more potent than fentanyl) to wipe them out. Unfortunately medics didn't have enough antidote on hand to reboot all people.

cynicalkane 8y ago

I have a hypothesis that the polonium poisoners weren't planning on being detected. Polonium has no side effects other than radiation poisoning which can't be detected outside the body. To diagnose it, one would have to go looking for trace amounts in the body or in contaminated areas. If the poisoners weren't aware of the extreme sensitivity of alpha-particle detection -- reliably accurate to the single particle level -- they might have thought polonium would be undetectable and untraceable. Or they might of thought nobody would ever think to look for it. By some accounts, they almost didn't.

sephamorr 8y ago
You're spot on here. As I understand, the Russian state was quite surprised at the capabilities of Western detection science. It was certainly not common knowledge that low-concentration alpha emitters (still plenty poisonous) could be detected in blood, nor that the assassins could be tracked all the way back to Russia just from their limited exposure.
- cynicalkane 8y ago
  The science is actually old and certainly known to physicists around the world. Such detectors are readily available to university physics laboratories, for example. But if you don't have a physics background, it might never occur to you that such technology exists.

losteric 8y ago

Poison can also be deployed by untrained individuals coerced into service, and bypass metal detectors as well as bullet-proof vests used by paranoid targets.

meowface 8y ago
And an obvious point: Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths, and to send a message that other enemies will suffer a similar fate. Killing Litvinenko or Skripal with a bullet to the head probably wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough.
- Bendingo 8y ago
  > Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths > wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough You know this how ?
  - GW150914 8y ago
    > Russia wants important enemies to die slow, painful deaths > wouldn't have been satisfying or vengeful enough You know this how ? Alexander Litvenenko springs to mind, followed by Viktor Yushchenko, Alexander Perepilichny, Anna Politkovskaya (later shot to death), Vladimir Kara-Murza (twice!), the Skripals, Georgi Markov (Ricin... nasty), Karinna Moskalenko, and on and on.
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
  > Russia wants important enemies to die slow I know this is a common oversimplification when talking about governments, but please, could we at last use "Kremlin" instead? Russia is a large country with many people just like us, who want to live, love and have a wonderful time. Sure, at times the public opinion is stirred when some atrocities are reported and you can hear some vocal groups online, but Russians are not different from any other nation in this respect. Their leaders, however, are a different story. You could say Russians have had bad luck with respect to their rulers for centuries. When you look back at what Lenin, Stalin and others did, Putin starts to look like a savior. But they all have a certain attitude and ambitions. So could we please stop saying "Russia" when we don't mean Russian people at all, and common Russians are actually victims of bad policy of their rulers.

dzhiurgis 8y ago

> opioids (fentanyl) (to wipe out the hostage-takers in the Dubrovka theater) They used Carfentanil (100x more potent than fentanyl) to wipe them out. Unfortunately medics didn't have enough antidote on hand to reboot all people.