Something serious is going on in the Litvinenko case because Boris Berezovsky, patron of Litvinenko, former employer of Andre Lugovoi and within whose office the Po-210 trail runs has finally announced his plans to topple Putin through violent revolution:

Russia expects exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky to be extradited from Britain where he has refugee status after the billionaire told a newspaper he was planning a revolution to topple President Vladimir Putin, Reuters news agency reports.

“We need to use force to change this regime, ”Berezovsky said in his interview with Guardian newspaper Friday.

The story of a Putin hit on Alexander Litvinenko was allows too contrived and convenient. The announcement of Putin’s alleged role was held off until after Litvinenko died in a PR coordinated campaign paid for by Berezovsky. For some reason getting the media to see and hear this from Litvinenko himself, the strongest way to convey the charge, could not happen. It seemed like everyone was waiting to see if Litvinenko survived before trotting out the Putin charge.

Then the Berezovsky media machine, headed by his mouthpiece Alex Goldfarb (of NY City – think of the cost and travel time involved) through out wild and shifting charges about Scarammella and Lugovoi – but never naming Lugovoi. Always hinting, as if sending a message of warning. That is until of course Lugovoi and Kovtun met with investigators and it became clear they were witnesses more than suspects – at which point Berezovsky did not rejoice in the breakthrough, he went on a character assassination binge against Lugovoi. If Lugovoi was becoming a witness and uncovering the plot, why would Berezovsky go on the warpath?

The Po-210 that went through London last October, supposedly in at least three consigments all of which had a nexus with a meeting between Litvinenko and Lugovoi, was destined for some kind of nefarious purpose. It is incredibly expensive to divert into the wrong hands and is very difficult to handle safely. But it can be used in nuclear bomb triggers or as the killing device in a dirty bomb.

The Po-210’s alleged Russian production signature (and all nuclear material carries a production signature with it) was more likely an intended framing effort against Putin than anything else. While the scientifically naive media may not understand how nuclear material is traced, those using it do know and understand that to use it is to leave a pointer right back to where it was created. So this sophisticated and expensive operation doubtfully missed that simple angle and more than likely wanted to exploit it. Which again leads us back to Berezovsky and his office contaminated with Po-210.

I plan to add to this post over the day as I read up on the sea of articles out there, but clearly Berezovsky is not trying to hide his intentions anymore. What triggered this is not clear, but the fact is Russian and British and German and US investigators are all working on this case, and Berezovsky’s media diversion cannot divert attention across that broad of a spectrum. Not when extremly deadly nuclear material is at the center of everything. Updates below the fold:

Update: The origin of this breaking news was an interview Berezovsky had with The Guardian. In this interview he makes a grand implication:

The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has told the Guardian he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia’s ruling elite.

The term “Russia’s ruling elite” probably is a reference to those corrupt and possibly criminal oligarchs who plundered Russia after the fall of communism and who have been waging a sometimes violent battle for supremacy outside of Russia. There have been hints and claims the deaths of journalists have not been by Putin trying to silence critics (a useless and endless task) but these Oligarchs who may be implicated in some serious activities. So one way to read this is a bunch of greedy thugs want to overthrow Putin so the thugs can get back to pillaging Russia.

n comments which appear calculated to enrage the Kremlin, and which will further inflame relations between London and Moscow, the multimillionaire claimed he was already bankrolling people close to the president who are conspiring to mount a palace coup.

Translation: He has bribed people with money and promises of a slice of the bounty Berezovsky will get his hands on if the elected government is overthrown. It is important to note Putin has a sky high popularity in Russia and was duly elected by the people. This may be the first of many attempts by powerful people in the West who do not actually believe in democracy as the best form of government. And trust me, there are tons of these “Anakin Skywalkers” out there. In my mind, this is no different than if George Soros came out in London and uttered the same words about George Bush. Frustration with world’s problems is not an excuse to destroy our democracies.

So what gives? Berezovsky is making a personally dangerous move:

t will not be the first time the British government has faced accusations from the Kremlin that it is providing a safe haven for Mr Berezovsky. When he told a Moscow radio station last year that he wanted to see Mr Putin overthrown by force, Jack Straw, then foreign secretary, told the Commons that “advocating the violent overthrow of a sovereign state is unacceptable” and warned the tycoon he could be stripped of his refugee status.

So he was warned before (and probably again recently in private) that he cannot be calling for the overthrow of an ally (one we spent half a century opposing after WW II at great cost). What is his plan? He is now open for losing his refugee status, he is a central figure in the Po-210 smuggling ring, and therefore he is really exposed. So how can he divert attention again?

While declining to describe these contacts – and alleging that they would be murdered if they were identified – he maintained that he was offering his “experience and ideology” to members of the country’s political elite, as well as “my understanding of how it could be done”. He added: “There are also practical steps which I am doing now, and mostly it is financial.”

Has the Po-210 been delivered to where it was meant to go? Will there be new deaths in Russia tied to Po-210 so Berezovsky can claim one of his associates in the coup d’etat was taken out by Putin? What type of game is Berezovsky up to? Putin is out of office in less than a year. There is no need for ‘regime change’ except for the fact Putin is highly popular and his replacement will not be too different. Which makes sense. Is it all or nothing time for Boris?

One thing is certain, Berezovsky continues to use the death of his ‘friend’ Litvinenko to meet his needs:

He added that there was even less chance of such a decision [to remove his refugee status] being taken following the polonium-210 poisoning last November of his former employee, Alexander Litvinenko. “Today the reality is different because of the Litvinenko case.”

Is that a motive I detect here?

Update: Well, maybe the cause for this offensive move has to do with something going on in Russia and investigations there:

Defense lawyers representing Berezovsky in Moscow said they had received a summons to appear at the Russian Prosecutor’s Office later in the day, but that the reason had not been explained to them.

“We have been notified that we must be in the prosecutor’s office at 4 p.m. [12 p.m. GMT] today,” Andrei Borovkov said, adding that he doubted the visit had anything to do with the fresh case Russian prosecutors are set to open against his client on sedition charges.

Very true, it is doubtful this meeting has to do with today’s interview. But it could very well have to do with the Litvinenko investigation. OK – this meeting is more likely about Berezovsky’s embezzlement of funds out of Russia:Chaika also said Friday that the Prosecutor General’s Office would take up the case opened in connection with Berezovsky’s alleged embezzlement of funds from Russia’s flagship air carrier Aeroflot. He said the case, which the Prosecutor General’s Office has been investigating on and off since 1999, would soon be submitted to court.

Seems Boris is a busy little criminal.