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Moscow, June 8, 2006: The state Duma adopts legislation giving the FSB authority to send commandos to assassinate “terrorist groups” abroad. “The amendments provide for special operation units of the FSB to be used at the discretion of the President against terrorists and bases that are located outside the Russian Federation for the purposes of interdicting threats to the Russian Federation” says Mikhail Grishankov, deputy chairman of the Duma Security Committee.

That’s the preamble to the final chapter of the book Death of a dissident, written by Alex Goldfarb with input from and Marina Litvinenko. Marina is the wife of the former soviet FSB oper, Alexander Litvinenko, known as Sasha. The story of Litvinenko‘s death by radioactive polonium made the headlines during the latter part of 2006. Though no specific traces or clues could be found, it was widely believed that Sasha’s had been assassinated in London due to his initial defection from Russia and his activism against its leadership. Thankfully, the book contains only a very short piece on the actual death of Litvinenko. The bulk is the story of his operations as an officer in various secret service organizations, his imprisonment for refusing to tow the party line and his defection to England via Turkey. Against a backdrop of recent Russian history, the reader is introduced to numerous key role players, most with names that are difficult to pronounce, let alone remember! Handily, the appendix lists the most important characters and their claim to fame.

The author is an activist, having helped many Russians to defect from their country during the early 1980′s. Having had personal contact with most highly placed players in Russian politics, the story of Vladimir Putin‘s rise to power and his alleged involvement in the Moscow theatre hostage drama, bombing of apartments and death of a prominent Russian journalist is tied to the death of the dissident, Litvinenko.

It’s a modern-day political thriller, with the exception that everything really happened not too long ago. One may want to exercise caution in believing all the allegations, but it’s a fascinating read. Quite coincidentally, the person being accused of wrongdoing in the book was named person of the year by Time Magazine at the end of 2007. Death of a dissident is highly recommended!