UK Expels 4 Russian “Diplomats” over Litvinenko Murder

In the aftermath of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London, the British government has told four officials at the Russian embassy in London to pack their bags and go home. The BBC says that the Foreign Office has declined to name the men, but they are “known intelligence officers.” The Russians are suggesting retaliation is on its way. It’s like the 1950s all over again.

Mr. Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and a naturalized British citizen, was poisoned with Polonium-210, which was put in his tea allegedly by Andrei Lugovoi, a member of the Soviet (whoops) Russian security services. Mr. Lugovoi has taken refuge in the Soviet Union (sorry, again) Russian Federation. The Russians won’t extradite him for trial, and the UK refuses to let him be tried in Russia. Thus, the stand-off that puts Anglo-Russian relations at a 20-year nadir.

Despite wanting a “good relationship,” with Russia, new Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “When a murder takes place, when a number of innocent civilians were put at risk as a result of that murder, and when an independent prosecuting authority makes it absolutely clear what is in the interests of justice, and there is no forthcoming co-operation, then action has to be taken.” That action was the expulsion of the spies in the embassy.

The Russian government has made noises that could well have come from the Brezhnev era, Foreign Ministry chief spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said, “London’s position is immoral. Such provocative actions masterminded by the British authorities will not be left without an answer and cannot but entail the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations.” And they were doing so well for a while, then they trot out “provocative actions masterminded by . . .” What’s next? “Glorious fulfillment of the tractor quotas under the wise and enlightened Five-Year Plan?”

The situation is serious, and the Brown government is making the right move. However, the value of the agents to Russia remain unless their cover is entirely blown. The Foreign Office needs to provide photographs and biographies to the British papers of each of the expelled officers. In addition, it needs to give the Russian ambassador a list of other known officers who will be exposed if Mr. Lugovoi doesn’t return to the UK for trial. In many ways, the Russian Federation is nothing like the Soviet Union, but once a Chekist, always a Chekist. Russia’s neighbors need to remember that and respond accordingly.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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