With this recent pollonium poisoning my impression is you can count the suspects on the finger of one finger, and this new law seems perfectly designed to excuse it. But Russia being Russia, and oligarchical collectivism(*) being what it is, the chances of the obvious being true tend to zero. Unless it's a double bluff.

We in the West can't get all sniffy about political assassinations - let's face it, Castro wouldn't have had to survive so many attempts on his life if the CIA were all boy scouts, now would he?

I think Cegorach put his finger on an important point talking about the factions within the (various) Russian secret services. Who knows which way various actors may be pulling? There could well be a strong anti-Putin force out to embarrass him; but I could so easily believe he's the one who pointed the finger too. I don't really know how fragmented the Russian power-blocs are. I don't believe Putin yet has the same grip Stalin had for instance, but don't doubt that he's tightening it all the time.

I'm not one to quote Churchill often, but this holds true today:

"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
It's odd that the West seem to jump on Syria, Iran etc for exploiting our attention being on terrorism, when it's quite plain that Russia is also using the same smoke screen. Expect more surprises.....


(*) yep, that's an Orwell reference