Litvinenko can't escape the KGB

Well it wasn’t Gazprom per se, but Russia’s mighty sickle has struck again – poisoning former FSB (Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti or Federal Security Service) operative Alexander Litvinenko currently living (or, rather, dying) in London. The current incarnation of the KGB dubbed SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki or External Reconnaissance Agency) stated “We have nothing to do with what happened to Litvinenko. The Russian secret services have not in a long time carried out poisonings or any form of assassination.” Well, obviously we wouldn’t expect them to outright admit it – denying obvious treacheries with rice paper thin cover ups is what Putin’s administration is all about. I mean, according to them Khodorkovsky (former CEO of OAO Yukos) is having a wonderful time in his Siberian prison (nevermind that he got sent to solitary for a week after the guards found he had some “unauthorized lemons” in his possessions).
Litvinenko, a critic of Russia’s policies, got sick immediately after a lunch with two SVR members. They were supposed to discuss Litvinenko’s investigation into the murder of a fellow dissenter - Anna Politkovskaya. One of the men was “Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB bodyguard and one-time head of security at a television station owned by the Russian billionaire, Boris Bezerovsky” [telegraph.co.uk], whom Litvinenko knew – but the second man, as yet unidentified, was someone Litvinenko had never seen before. Berezovsky visited Litvinenko twice and agrees with the dying ex-agent as to whose hands are awash in blood.
A toxicology analysis found the culprit to be thallium, a colorless and odorless chemical similar in composition to salt. The former agent’s “bone marrow has failed and friends say he has visibly aged 20 years and lost all his hair. His immune system has been severely depleted and he has suffered severe kidney damage.” [gulfnews.com] Doctors say he has only a 20% chance of survival.

Before and After: