But in late 2006, reports naming Litvinenko a former spy were big headlines. World media outlets were reporting that the former KGB spy was murdered on orders of Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Spy Story Unraveled video is the second in a series of supplements to my recent book entitled The Phony Litvinenko Murder. The book examines the media coverage of the purported poisoning of Litvinenko by radioactive polonium.
In the new video, a list of famous Russian spies is presented. Litvinenko stands out as the only one whose spy status was never reliably affirmed. Indeed, two sources have come forth contradicting the media's spy assertion. They explain that Litvinenko's security service job involved working against organized crime in Russia. He wasn't a spy, and didn't work for the KGB. In my book I present details of this from a well-informed, former instructor at the FSB Academy. The FSB is Russia's security service. Now in the new video, you can hear this directly from Litvinenko's widow, in her own words.
Nonetheless, media outlets insisted that Litvinenko was a spy. Typical headlines included:
--Ex-KGB spy 'poisoned by alpha radiation'
--Mysterious case of the poisoned spy
--Ex-KGB agent's poisoning echoes Cold War plot
--Radiation Poisoning Killed Ex-Russian Spy
I asked the media outlets behind each headline why they called Litvinenko a spy? They all refused to answer.
Another noteworthy headline said:
--Litvinenko spy story could be acted out by Johnny Depp
So on top of all the specious media coverage, it appears that a movie may be produced about a spy who wasn't a spy.
That's fitting, in a sense. Depp previously starred in the Walt Disney production of Alice in Wonderland. Like Alice, the Litvinenko story told by the media seems to be a fantasy adventure filled with illogical nonsense, as well. The basic premise of the story, that Litvinenko was a former spy, seems to lack a factual basis. It is a concoction. The media reports just don't hold up to scrutiny.
The Russian Spy Story Unraveled video can be viewed at http://www.OmnicomPress.com/plmv2 or on YouTube.com.