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He was poisoned, and survived thrice, and was also jailed for really insubstantial periods of time. I think the Kremlin is very much content with having such a
by baybal2 6y ago
He was poisoned, and survived thrice, and was also jailed for really insubstantial periods of time.
I think the Kremlin is very much content with having such a plaything opposition, which tacitly plays along, and does nothing to really challenge it.
The few other people who ever were a credible threat to the regime in Russia were dealt with much more unceremoniously: gunned down in the broad daylight.
I think the KGB is just "trolling" him.
Would they were they serious, they could've thrown the usual "espionage," or "terrorism" charge, and landed him in prison for 20+ years, poison him to death properly, or simply shot him dead as they've done with hundreds of others.
- quasse 6y agoDon't forget the "fell out a window" accident that has happened to several Russian doctors recently.
- baybal2 6y agoYes, people "fall out of windows" for much lesser offenses to the regime in Russia. Given this, take any speculation of suddenly appearing "credible opposition" in Russia with a big, big grain of salt.
- usui 6y agoI think this is what the parent comment is referring to. https://www.vox.com/2020/5/6/21248553/coronavirus-russia-doctors-windows-death https://www.vox.com/2020/5/6/21248553/coronavirus-russia-doc...
- anigbrowl 6y agoHigh status people have ground floor offices and fix their own beverages.
- gadders 6y agoAnd to Scot Young: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scot_Young#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scot_Young#Death https://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/from-russia-with-blood-14-suspected-hits-on-british-soil https://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/from-russia-with-blood-1...
- pvaldes 6y agoTo be fair it was a complicated time for doctors, suicide after being burned at work for a extremely stressing pandemy time was not ruled out. Newspapers will choose the most outrageous possibility, but nobody seems to be analyzing the possibility that (some of) those were a real suicide.
- sam_lowry_ 6y agoHe was poisoned once in jail before, and someone threw brilliant green at him, damaging his eye. So, technically, he was poisoned twice, not trice. As if this mattered. Sigh.
- snypher 6y agoI had no idea what brilliant green was (a dye also used as an antiseptic). It seems to be used often in a 'Zelyonka attack'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelyonka_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelyonka_attack
- jgwil2 6y agoNot all are dealt with "unceremoniously." See Alexander Litvinenko[0], who was not only poisoned but in such a way that there was no plausible deniability for FSB. More than anything they appeared to be making a spectacle of their impunity. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvine...
- arethuza 6y agoAlso Sergei Skripal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Skripal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Skripal Using WMD to take out a single person does indeed seem like making a political statement.
- meowface 6y agoAnd if the choice of murder weapon didn't make it glaringly obvious enough, Putin has all but publicly admitted to these, as well: >"Traitors will kick the bucket, believe me. Those other folks betrayed their friends, their brother in arms." [0] >"Whatever they got in exchange for it, those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them.” [0] >"Treason is the gravest crime possible and traitors must be punished. I am not saying the Salisbury incident is the way to do it, but traitors must be punished." [1] They cloak themselves with plausible deniability in many cases, but for turncoat intelligence personnel, they seem pretty explicit: at some point, no matter where you are, you will die an untimely, slow, painful death. It's definitely an attempted deterrent. [0] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-traitors-kick-bucket-sergei-skripal-latest-video-30-pieces-silver-a8243206.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-put... [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/vladimir-putin-theresa-may-skripal-g20-summit-japan-salisbury-attack-a8978786.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/vladimir-puti...
- huhtenberg 6y agoIt's a rather confusing statement though since Skripal survived this WMD attack.
- 6y ago
- mc32 6y agoIt’s like he’s the modern day Rasputin. I think you’re right, if they really wanted to get him, they would. There aren’t bay of pigs amateurs.
- freetanga 6y agoThis. I strongly recommend a book called “Nothing is true and everything is possible”. It describes how State media operates in Russia (and you could make a point many other countries have learned a thing or two from the book). Basically there needs to be an opposition, in order to be a triumphant democracy. But you need to keep it weak and under control. Seeing an opposition gives hope to people. Then they loose elections, and hope deflates. Do this a few times over and you have the country under your control for the long run...
- strictnein 6y agoI've read that book, and it's very entertaining. But the actions described in that book include setting up political parties to co-opt various movements do not describe what Alexey Navalny was doing. Navalny is the exception to what was the norm in Russia: an actual opposition, albeit a very weak one.
- craftinator 6y agoWhich begs the question, why is he still alive and un-jailed?
- 2bitencryption 6y agoI like to think of myself as pretty level-headed and totally unbelieving of conspiracy theory. As an example, I think "billionaire in a prison cell kills himself to avoid the consequences of his actions" is a far more likely story than "covert assassins enter a high-security prison and stage a fake suicide". But the moment the coronavirus started to get really bad, the first place my mind went was: "How does this help Putin?" That's not to say I actually continued down that train of thought -- I don't think it's very likely Putin kept a secret lab that evolved a very potent virus and waited to release it at a time that would cause the most instability with his biggest enemies. But... my mind did go there, very fast. And sometimes it does revisit that place.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- meowface 6y agoThat's crazy to think about, but you definitely may be right. I suppose that is a very Chekist way of trolling. Although I certainly think it's very likely some aspect of the government is involved, what are the odds that some of these instances have just been the actions of diehard Putin supporters who acted totally alone? I know full well Putin's and his security services' despotic and cruel nature, but I also do want to know (to some degree of confidence) when they are or aren't involved with something.
- baybal2 6y agoNo, do not entertain yourself with such thought. The fact of: 1. Sings of long term preparation, and surveillance were there. 2. His hospital room is now "guarded" by KGB agents out of Moscow who appeared out of nowhere within a few hours. That's pretty much a very deliberately displayed smoking gun.
- meowface 6y agoThanks, figures. I have little doubt Putin ordered it (tacitly or explicitly). There just seem to be so many (attempted or successful) murders that I imagine there must have been one or two times where he's been like "fuck, I didn't even do this one but I still have to go on a PR denial tour over it". I'm pretty sure he did do the overwhelming majority, though.
- etc-hosts 6y ago> I suppose that is a very Chekist way of trolling. are you an alt of John Schindler?
- meowface 6y agoI think there's a chance I started using that term when I read some thing written him or another commentator years ago, which caused me to research the history of the organization.