I always wondered why the Chechen terrorists, just a day after Litvinenko died, named him a martyr for the Chechen cause. It was one of the indicators that Litvinenko was more likely smuggling Po-210 to Putin’s enemies than being the target of a Po-210 armed Putin assassin. How a Russian could become a Muslim martyr while living in London. Quite impressive. Now it seems there may be first hand knowledge out of Chechnya of Berezovsky’s personal hand (with Litvinenko) in allying with those trying to topple Putin and the Russian government:

Reporters Without Borders voiced scepticism today about a claim made by Chechnya’s acting President Ramzan Kadyrov at a news conference in Grozny on 20 February that Boris Berezovsky (a Russian businessman and former politician now living in exile in Britain) ordered the murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Kadyrov claimed that he was personally present at meetings at which Berezovsky compromised himself and that Berezovsky, aided by Litvinenko, had financed Chechen separatist fighters with the aim of destroying Russia.

Now that is a serious claim. And I suppose it could be backed up with something to give it some credibility (or it could be bluster – I am well aware of the Russian use of the press). But it seems there is another person who backs this up:

Izmayilov said he knew who had made a statement accusing Berezovsky – an individual known as “Pirate” who has been involved in hostage-trafficking in Chechnya and who is under pressure from the secret services.

I would not be surprised, if this is in fact true, there is a sea of evidence pointing towards this scenario. You cannot move money without traces. All you can do is try and move it without it being noticed. But once people have an inkling something is afoot, they can look at the records, look at the sources, destinations and hops in between, and find the money trails. Once the light is shone, the trail becomes quickly evident.