Alexander Litvinenko poisoning

The Alexander Litvinenko poisoning is presented as one instance of lethal political intimidation in Russia: the former FSB officer was poisoned with polonium after denouncing criminality among his former colleagues, and the book places him on a list of people marked for death by those in power.

Background and Targeting

During a conversation with Eduard Limonov, the narrator describes a list of “enemies of Russia” circulated by those in power to incite public hatred. It identified people to kill and included their addresses and telephone numbers. Litvinenko appears on that list alongside Anna Politkovskaya and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, linking the poisoning to a broader account of threats against prominent critics and political opponents.

The Poisoning

The account identifies Litvinenko as a former FSB officer who had denounced criminality among his former colleagues. It states that he was poisoned with polonium. The passage supplies no further details about the circumstances or timing of the poisoning, and does not specify who carried it out.

Place in the Narrative

Litvinenko’s fate sharpens the danger Limonov describes: after saying that he had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, Limonov is presented as the next person on the list. The juxtaposition makes Litvinenko’s poisoning part of the book’s portrait of political violence and intimidation, rather than a separately reconstructed investigation of the attack.