The Power Vertical Podcast: A Toxic Trail

January 22, 2016
(Cartoon by Oleksiy Kustovskyi, RFE/RL)

The Power Vertical is hosted by RFE/RL’s Brian Whitmore and is syndicated by The Interpreter.


What has long been suspected now has official imprimatur.

Nine years ago, Russian agents assassinated a U.K. citizen in the heart of London, most likely with the explicit approval of Vladimir Putin.

That was the conclusion of a British inquiry into the death of Russian spy-turned-whistleblower Aleksandr Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London in November 2006 after drinking tea laced with polonium, a rare radioactive isotope.

So what happens now?

On the new Power Vertical Podcast, we discuss the fallout and implications of the Litvinenko investigation.

Joining me are Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University, an expert on Russia’s security services, and author of the blog In Moscow’s ShadowsKaren Dawisha, director of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at the University of Miami, Ohio, and author of the highly acclaimed book “Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?“; and journalist Oliver Bullough, author of the book, The Last Man In Russia and the Struggle to Save a Dying Nation.

Also on the Podcast, Mark, Karen, Oliver, and I look at Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s latest antics and what they signify.

Enjoy…