> This seems more like spycraft than a politically motivated assassination. Why would you poison somebody with polonium of all things, if not to send a message

> This seems more like spycraft than a politically motivated assassination. Why would you poison somebody with polonium of all things, if not to send a message "don't defect or else"? If "they" wanted him gone quietly almost all other solutions are cheaper, easier and less risky than polonium. Starting with organising a car accident. BTW why wrtie "eastern block" if you only have example from 1 country (namely Russia)? It's not like eastern block countries are similar to each other (except for 50 years of history ending 25 years ago). Compare Belarus, Estonia, Moldova and Czech Republic - completely different cultures, political systems.