from Hacker News

Britain expels Russian diplomats over poisoning of ex-spy

by LuisOrtiz on 3/14/18, 2:14 PM with 82 comments

• by gtrubetskoy on 3/14/18, 3:31 PM

  There is a book by one of the people who worked on the "novichok" agents which describes in detail the story behind and the chemicals themselves, including the exact formulas and some synthesis details.

  https://www.amazon.com/State-Secrets-Insiders-Chronicle-Chem...

• by alva on 3/14/18, 4:05 PM

  Two things that greatly concern me.

  1. President Trumps response (and I am not a hardcore anti-Trumper) has been very weak. Many here are extremely disappointed.

  2. The leader of the opposition is not supporting the government position and is propagating doubt far harder than is appropriate. There should always be some doubt in these situations but to immediately suggest this is a plot to frame Russia is something else. Rumours of mutiny are spreading and the majority of the Labour party directly and indirectly criticised his position during session.

  Highly concerning situation. I truly hope Trump comes out with much stronger language in support of what we consider a top ally.

• by whb07 on 3/14/18, 3:58 PM

  Why is it that ex-Russian oligarchs/kgb/persona-non-grata who end up being killed are mostly in exile in the UK? While I know there is a big community, you're as far as possible while still being in Europe, why not just move to the US or the Caribbean or something?

  There are other suitable parts of the world to be exiled to and maybe the US would be a safer spot for you to enjoy your wealth while being relatively more 'safe'. Granted, if the FSB(really the KGB) want you killed it doesn't matter where but UK seems like an easier opponent to push away than the troubles that might rise from US gov.

• by OrganicMSG on 3/14/18, 3:02 PM

  Another Russian exile, Nikolai Glushkov, died this morning in London.

  It could just be a massive coincidence, however there do seem to be a lot of coincidences to write off if we are to assume that the trail of dead Russians does not lead to Russia.

• by aleyan on 3/14/18, 3:42 PM

  Russian gangsters and other ne'er-do-wells of the 90s still carry old grievances and will continue murdering each other until they are all gone. Since Britain provided the richest of them with a playground, it is not shocking that they are continuing with their modus operandi on a smaller scale there.

  As for Skripal, he allegedly blew the cover of 300 Russian agents. That is a lot of people with a personal motive. Perhaps an investigation is in order before Britain and Russia tear their relationship apart over this.

• by Dowwie on 3/14/18, 5:43 PM

  If you were a decision maker in Russia, why use a chemical so rare that anywhere in the world it appears would directly implicate you, and also kills a subject quickly? Revenge at a level like this-- killing a high ranking KGB informant under UK protection -- would be slow and painful. It would be done using methods that weren't branded Made In Russia into the hides of the victims.

  This entire story smells of conspiracy.

• by molszanski on 3/14/18, 4:18 PM

  I just don't get it.

  a) Why would Russia do that?

  b) Why would they do that in a way that would finger point the blame on them?

• by amriksohata on 3/14/18, 8:13 PM

  Russia could have killed this man years ago when he was in their custody, they instead used him for a spy swap and even then took years before deciding to kill him. There are one of two things going on, Russia is trying to be a nusiance in the same way by flying jets near Britain's airspace. It can't go to full scale war because both are nuclear powers, but wants to show people not to mess with it. The way MI5 works is completely different, something will happen in Russia and no one will know it's them that retaliated. I'm surprised people haven't capitalised on grilling Corbyn on if he thinks nuclear disarmament is still a good idea.

• by fenk85 on 3/14/18, 3:51 PM

  This is what is going to happen

  Russia will blame everyone and use the usual whataboutism arguments, we already had Russian ambassador on CNN yesterday trying to float conspiracy theory that US done it because Russia destroyed all their chemical weapons and US has not (i kid you not)

  Sanctions will be announced by western countries, but not implemented (whatever dirt they have on Trump must be good)

  Everyone will forget and move on

  Few years later proof will be found, but by that stage no one will care, case in hand Russian antiaircraft technology "falling" into rebel hands and shooting down a passenger plane a few years ago.

• by lowry on 3/14/18, 3:07 PM

  Sending off diplomats won't hurt Putin as much as sending off McMafia style oligarchs. Unfortunately UK has no guts to do it.

• by apo on 3/14/18, 3:47 PM

  British intelligence have labeled the poison as “military grade” and “of a type developed in Russia.”

  I've seen no evidence whatsoever that the alleged attack was carried out by Russia.

  Novichok agents were developed in the 1970s, have been the topic of many publications, and the simple and widely-known chemical structures of any number of them could be made by chemists from any country or group willing to take the risk to make them.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

  If Britain is intent on dragging NATO into this, as it seems like it might be, there had better be far more compelling evidence of Russia's involvement than the weak drivel published to date.

  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/13/nerve-agent-...

  Remember yellowcake?

• by hugh4life on 3/14/18, 3:02 PM

  I'll be frank, this whole situation seems really fishy... I don't think Russia had anything to do with this. Not with the elections and world cup within months. It makes zero sense whatsoever. But I also don't feel sorry for them because their past shady and thuggish behavior makes it easy for them to be framed for such acts.

• by jingleheimer on 3/14/18, 4:44 PM

  On the face of it this looks like a USS Liberty style false flag. It would make sense if, once again, Israel is facing enemies on its doorstep and is looking draw others into the conflict to come to their defence.

  The novichok agents are not that hard to make and many labs around the world have the capability and the research licences to make it. The factors tying them to Russia would be trace chemicals, similar to how you can trace gold. It'll be easy to lie about the origin so long as no-one else has access to the chemicals to test them.

  Theresa May is a very weak position politically. The industrial size gang rape cover ups that came out recently didn't help. The ongoing Brexit negotiation failures are not helping. It's only a matter of time before she's replaced. Picking a fight with Russia makes her look stronger. If you want another laugh, consider that the UK thinks it has a 'special relationship' with the US which will allow them to get a favourable trading deal afterwards.

  Until I see more evidence, e.g. play by play surveillance, I will remain unconvinced.