Moscow has ‘Long’ Tradition of Killing Traitors Abroad, Russian Military Information Agency Says in Providing a List

Paul Goble

            Staunton, March 19 – “The Soviet and Russian intelligence services have a longstanding and good tradition of carrying out [death] sentences against those who have blackened their names as traitors,” the Russian Military Information Agency says.  And to make its point as Skripal hovers near death, the agency provides a list of those Russia has gone after.

            Rarely have the Russian agencies been so bold in making such a declaration or providing such a list, one that is both incomplete and dishonest – it says the death of General Kutepov is still unknown whereas he was killed by Soviet agents after they kidnaped him in Paris --  but that is precisely because it is being released now extremely frightening (iarex.ru/news/56639.html).

            The list is as follows:

·         In 1921, Cheka agents killed Ataman Aleksandr Dutov in China.

·         In 1925, the OGPU killed former Soviet military agent Vladimir Nesterovich in Berlin.

·         In 1930, OGPU agents kidnaped White Russian General Aleksandr Kornilov.

·         In 1937, NKVD agents killed defector Georgy Agabekov in France.

·         In 1937, NKVD agents killed political figure Kurt Landau in Spain.

·         In 1937, NKVD agents killed former Soviet intelligent officer Ignaty Reiss in Switzerland on Stalin’s direct order, the MIA says.

·         In 1937, NKVD agents killed Andrey Nii, the leader of the Workers Party of Marxist Unity, in Catalonia.

·         In 1937, NKVD agents killed Ukrainian nationalist Yevgeny Konovalets.

·         In 1954, Nikolay Khokhlov, a Soviet intelligence officer, was ordered to kill Georgy Oklovich, an NTS leader, in Germany; but Khokhlov himself defected.

·         In 1954, KGB agents killed Aleksandr Trushnovich, an NTS leader, in Germany.

·         In 1957, KGB agents killed Lev Rebet, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), in Germany.

·         In 1959, a KGB agent killed Stepan Bandera, a leader of émigré Ukrainian nationalists, in Germany.

·         In 1978, KGB agents killed Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov in London.

·         In 1979, Soviet special forces killed Hafizulla Amin, the president of the Revolutionary Council of Afghanistan.

·         In 1996, “after three unsuccessful attacks,” Russian forces killed “Dzhokhar Dudayev, the first president of Chechnya.”

·         In 2002, Russian forces killed the terrorist Amir Khatab.

·         In 2004, Russian agents killed Chechen fighter Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev.

·         In 2006, Russian agents dispatched Aleksandr Livtinenko, a former officer of Soviet and Russian state security, with polonium in London for his authorship of “The FSB is Blowing Up Russia” and “The Lubyanka Criminal Group.” 

There have been many other cases where there are suspicions but no certainty including in the United Kingdom in recent years, such as the deaths of Boris Berezovsky, Aleksandr Perepilnichny, Badry Patarkatsishvili, among others, the article continues.