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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: KGB

KGB stories: 15 news summaries

Russian Sports, Concert Tycoon Gunned Down

Shabtai von Kalmanovic, 60, know for importing WNBA stars

Nov 2, 09 7:00 PM CST
(Newser) - A former KGB agent turned sports- and concert-promoter was gunned down today in Moscow, with the submachine gun-toting assailants pulling alongside Shabtai von Kalmanovic’s Mercedes and killing him nearly instantly in a hail of bullets. Kalmanovic, 60, brought stars of the WNBA to Russia during its off-season to play... More »

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Russia • Israel • WNBA • espionage • KGB • assassination • Shabtai von Kalmanovic • Spartak • contract hit

(Newser) - It’s 1988. President Ronald Reagan is making a visit to the Soviet Union, where he tours Moscow’s Red Square alongside Mikhail Gorbachev. He stops and takes questions from a group of tourists about human rights in the United States. Except they’re not tourists, Radio Free Europe reports.... More »

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Moscow • Vladimir Putin • KGB • Mikhail Gorbachev • Ronald Reagan • photograph • President • 1988 • Red Square

Want to Own a Newspaper?
Got $1.50?

Russian oligarch buying iconic London paper for token sum

Jan 16, 09 8:19 AM CST
(Newser) - A Russian oligarch with a past in the KGB is set to buy one of London's most visible newspapers, at the knockdown price of just a buck and a half. Alexander Lebedev will acquire the Evening Standard for the token price—the cost of two copies—from a media conglomerate... More »

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newspaper • London • KGB • Anna Politkovskaya • Novaya Gazeta • British media • Russian oligarchs • Alexander Lebedev • Evening Standard

OBITUARY

Head of Russian Orthodox Church Dead

Patriarch Alexiy unified denomination, was suspected of KGB ties

Dec 5, 08 12:24 PM CST
(Newser) - The iconic leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who healed an 80-year rift in the church and restored its prominence in Russian society, died today, the Times of London reports. No official cause of death was given for Patriarch Alexiy, but the Kremlin’s first post-Soviet Orthodox leader had been... More »

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Russia • Vladimir Putin • Soviet Union • KGB • religion • church • Dmitry Medvedev • Roman Catholic Church • Russian Orthodox Church • Alexiy II

KGB Radiation Poisoning Suspect Ready to Talk

Lugovoi offers to meet with UK investigators

Nov 22, 08 9:31 AM CST
(Newser) - A former KGB agent accused of poisoning a Russian dissident in England wants to clear his name, he tells the Times of London. Alexander Lugovoi has offered to send a friend to London to speak with investigators, and may travel to the UK himself if officials pledge not to arrest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Alexander Litvinenko • Andrei Lugovoi • KGB • poison • polonium • assassin

Russia Claims US Citizen Provoked War

Cites teacher's found passport as proof of meddling in Georgia

Sep 3, 08 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - To support its claims that US intelligence agents played a role in the Georgian conflict, the Kremlin has produced a US passport belonging to an Army veteran from Texas, the Wall Street Journal reports. They say the passport was found in an outpost used by Georgian special forces. The alleged... More »

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China • Russia • CIA • Vladimir Putin • espionage • Soviet Union • KGB • Georgia • spy • international relations • passport

Brits: Russia Played Role in Ex-KGB Agent's London Murder

'Clear indications it
was state action'

Jul 8, 08 6:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - The murder of a former KGB agent in London 2 years ago was carried out with the support of the Russian government, British government sources have told the BBC. There are "very strong indications it was a state action," said one senior official. Alexander Litvinenko, who was mysteriously... More »

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Russia • Alexander Litvinenko • espionage • KGB • poison • spy • MI5

In Moscow the Beat Goes On

Second verse same as the first: Putin and protege celebrate win at concert

Mar 3, 08 4:20 AM CST
(Newser) - To no one's surprise, Russia's new president Dmitry Medvedev has promised to uphold the policies of his predecessor after yesterday's stage-managed transfer of power widely regarded as an election farce, reports Reuters. Medvedev has already chosen outgoing president Vladimir Putin, ineligible for another term, as prime minister. To underline their... More »

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Russia • Vladimir Putin • KGB • Kremlin • Dmitry Medvedev • presidential election • Gennady Zyuganov

Medvedev Wins in a Landslide

Putin pupil has asked current prez to be PM

Mar 2, 08 2:53 PM CST
(Newser) - On par with expectations, Dmitry Medvedev has won Russia’s presidential election with 69.6% of the vote, an exit poll says. His closest rival took just 17.2%. The victory likely means little change for Russia, as Medvedev has asked current president Vladimir Putin to be his prime minister... More »

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Russia • Vladimir Putin • KGB • Dmitry Medvedev • exit polls • Russian elections • presidential election • Gennady Zyuganov • Russian president • landslide victory

Belarus Merger Could Return Putin to Office

New constitution
would give president
new lease on power

Dec 10, 07 1:47 PM CST
(Newser) - Vladimir Putin may release a secret weapon this week: a Russian political union with neighboring Belarus that could extend his leadership indefinitely. As the ex-KGB operative’s presidential terms run out, observers look to a merger of nations—including currency, legal system, and armed forces—as an opportunity for a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Vladimir Putin • KGB • constitution • USSR • Belarus

Russian Claims He Was Asked to Kill Litvinenko

Warned victim of plot before tea poisoning

Dec 9, 07 12:03 PM CST
(Newser) - Onetime KGB agent Mikhail Trepashkin has said that a former colleague attempted to recruit him for a state-sponsored plot to kill Kremlin foe Alexander Litvinenko, who died of poisoning in London last year. Trepashkin will detail his allegations before the European human rights court, supporting the case that the Russian... More »

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Russia • London • Alexander Litvinenko • Vladimir Putin • espionage • KGB • Mikhail Trepashkin

Putin Will Run for Parliament, Could Be PM

Russia’s prez unveils plans that might keep him at country’s helm

Oct 1, 07 12:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Vladimir Putin will lead the United Russia ticket in December’s parliamentary elections—and could very well be the country's next PM. Term limits prevent the president from running for a third term in March, and his newest plan, revealed today, confirms a long-suspected desire to hold tight to the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Vladimir Putin • KGB • president • prime minister • Viktor Zubkov • United Russia • election

KGB Doggedly Stalked Nureyev

Russians wanted
to break defector dancer’s legs

Sep 19, 07 8:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - He was never interested in politics, but Rudolf Nureyev was a KGB scourge for decades after his 1961 defection. The famed ballet dancer’s colleagues were glad to see him go—‘Rudik’ was a prima donna to management and competition for fellow performers—but the state was incensed, the... More »

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Russia • KGB • ballet • USSR • Rudolf Nureyev • defection • Yuri Gagarin

Billionaires Flee Putin's Russia

For mainly Jewish oligarchs, wealth and power has given way
to prison and exile

Jul 2, 07 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - A cadre of 50 or so Russian businessmen struck it rich when the USSR's state-owned industries went up for grabs. But most of these billionaire oligarchs are now in prison or have fled, hounded and hectored by the KGB-style tactics of president Putin. The Guardian profiles 7 deposed plutocrats, who've... More »

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Russia • wealth • Jews • Vladimir Putin • Soviet Union • KGB • Roman Abramovich • Kremlin • billionaire • anti-Semitism

UK Demands Extradition in Spy Poisoning

Moscow balks as focus of Litvinenko case turns to fellow ex-KGB agent

May 22, 07 8:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - The poisoning death of spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko was the work of another ex-KGB operative, the British government says, and it wants the accused charged and extradited. But Moscow refuses to deliver him, the BBC reports, saying that would violate the Russian constitution. Litvinenko was a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Russia • Alexander Litvinenko • United Kingdom • Vladimir Putin • Andrei Lugovoi • KGB

15 Stories


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