Dec 10 2006
The Kovtun Trail
We have to keep in mind the three previous rounds of contamination at London hotels on Oct 16th (which Kovtun was present at) and Oct 28th and finally Oct 31st-Nov 1, when Litvinenko was fatally exposed. In all three of these cases Lugovoi flew to London and met many times with Litvinenko. And we have yet to determine if the Polonium 210 is travelling into London or from London to some other location – like Moscow. It is important to also remember Litvinenko’s Chechen allies are the only terrorists to place a dirty bomb in a major city. They did that in 1995 in Moscow. What is important to remember is Lugovoi may have been contaminated when he returned from London on Oct 28th to Moscow. We know the Sheraton Park Lane was contaminated where Lugovoi stayed. In fact it is believed his was one of a series of rooms contaminated in Knightsbridge and in the Millenium hotel. Just read this tidbit from the Washington Post for a hint of what might also have happened:
Laying out a chronology of some of his movements, German officials said Kovtun landed in Hamburg after flying from Moscow on Oct. 28. He was picked up in a BMW, which has tested positive for radiation, German investigators said.
On Oct. 29, Kovtun spent the night in Haselau, about 16 miles north of Hamburg, at his former mother-in-law’s home. The BMW was found at that location, German officials said, and initial tests detected radiation in the house.
On Oct. 30, Kovtun went to an administrative office for foreigners in Hamburg. Radiation has been detected on his file card, which he signed, German officials said. Neither the employee in the room nor the room itself tested positive.
…
At 6:40 a.m. on Nov. 1, Kovtun took a Germanwings flight from Hamburg to London. The plane was examined at the Cologne-Bonn airport, but no contamination was detected. Police, explaining that apparent anomaly, said that had Kovtun showered he might have washed away any trace. They also noted that the plane had been thoroughly cleaned since Kovtun flew on it.
Actually I have seen reporting (can’t find the link right now) where authorities in Germany tested many other stops by Kovtun as he travelled around Hamburg without any traces found. The trail is warm from Moscow but goes cold before Kovtun heads to London on Nov 1.
So here is the twist. Lugovoi is contaminated and returns to Moscow the same day Kovtun departs. Was Lugovoi bringing something into Russia? Did he meet Kovtun before Kovtun left for Hamburg and contaminate him there in Moscow? Is this what Berezovsky said when he recently claimed he would take Russia by force?
The fact we have contamination back to October 16th and the 25th or so tells me there is a lot more to understand about this incident than the Pine Bar on the evening of Nov 1. That place is one of the last sites that must be addressed to solve this puzzle. There is much, much more to this.
I believe Kovtun has said his office is contaminated.
Goor article on polonium in the Toronto Star:
Link
Thanks CP, this is pretty weird:
“Secret files from Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment reveal that two workers there inhaled large amounts polonium-210 dust in a 1955 accident. Yet their peak radiation level was at least 500 times below the lethal dose, according to calculations by Paddy Regan, a nuclear physics expert at the University of Surrey.
“Even though inhalation is the most dangerous form of receiving this stuff, these two men got very small doses, so it shows what little risk there is to BA passengers,” Regan told The Telegraph newspaper”
It seems to go against most of what I’ve read. Perhaps one key component here is that those men were aware of what happened to them and did everything they could to not breathe in the stuff, including minimizing the time they spent in the contaminated environment. That is also something that is misleading about the media reports. Yes alpha radiation is easily stopped, but if you get it on your hand and eat something afterwards, without washing your hands, it’s no longer harmless.
Big article in Time..Points of interest:
“Without the intervention of Britain’s nuclear-bomb lab, the cause of death would have remained shrouded. Boris Zhuykov, chief of the radioisotope laboratory at the Nuclear Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, says the discovery that polonium was the cause was “an act of scientific heroism. The murderers obviously did not expect that the polonium would be found. They failed because of the excellence of the English gamma spectrometer and the persistence of the research.” (Zhuykov says that when he was making these points to Moscow’s pro-government NTV network last week, the interview was terminated”
“Meanwhile, there is the light–uncomfortably glaring–that the case sheds on modern Russia. Vladimir Ryzhkov, one of the few independent liberals left in the Duma, says, “The point is not whether Putin is responsible for these concrete murders. The point is that he is responsible for having created a system that is ruled by fear and violence.” Ryzhkov claims that the armed forces, Interior Ministry, FSB and those who have retired from them to join private security services “are running this country, own its economy and use violence and murder as habitual management techniques.” A U.S. businessman in Moscow seconds the argument. “While you in the press are obsessed by Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, you’ve missed that half a dozen major oil executives and another half-dozen major bankers have been murdered in the last few months.” Unlike Litvinenko’s sickness, Russia’s may not be fatal. But like his, it starts from inside. From his lead-lined coffin, a shadowy figure has illuminated that much.”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568482-7,00.html
How do we know that hotels were contaminated on 16 & 28 Oct? and not planted afterwards, when Po became known?
I’m open-minded to the smuggling attempt, but I think the facts about the case & of what Russia & Putin have been doing are overwhelming (as Clarice highlights above) towards motive and means for assassination. Perhaps there’s a combination of the two at play, but Litv was obviously targeted. I think with all the digging into minutia, some lose sight of the obvious. Russian authorities don’t seem too concerned about smuggling, but they sure are being secretive and uncooperative in the handling of Lug & Kov.
Wiley, that’s how I see it, too.
Clarice, in your snip from the Time article, interesting how Boris Zhuykov was yanked off the air in Russia for praising the British scientists as heroes. Thanks for linking that. I have believed all along that if (IF!) this is a state hit, that the Russians did not think they would be discovered, and that the actual hitmen did not understand the risk involved.
Going to go read the article now.
Yes..I think it is quite possible the substance used to poison Litvinenko might never have been found. On the other thread, mention is made of how much more efficient the German authorities have been–Well, they knew what they were looking for, and had a clue about whose path to trace, didn’t they?