The poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, alternatively known as Laboratory 1, Laboratory 12, and Kamera (which means "The Cell" in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

), was a

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

research-and-development facility of the Soviet secret police agencies. The laboratory manufactured and tested poisons and was reportedly reactivated in the late 1990s. The laboratory activities were mentioned in the

Mitrokhin archive The "Mitrokhin Archive" is a collection of handwritten notes which were secretly made by the KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin during the thirty years in which he served as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Dir ...

Chronology

* 1921: First poison laboratory within the Soviet secret services was established under the name "Special Office". It was operated by the Cheka and headed by professor of medicine Ignatii Kazakov, according to

Pavel Sudoplatov Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov (russian: Пáвел Aнатóльевич Cудоплáтов; ua, Павло Анатолійович Судоплатов, translit=Pavlo Anatoliiovych Sudoplatov; July 7, 1907 – September 24, 1996) was a member ...

.Vadim J. Birstein. ''The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science.'' Westview Press (2004) . *1926: The laboratory was under the supervision of

Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...

, a deputy of OGPU chairman

Vyacheslav Menzhinsky Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky (russian: Вячесла́в Рудо́льфович Менжи́нский, pl, Wiesław Mężyński; 19 August 1874 – 10 May 1934) was a Polish-Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet statesman and Communis ...

, who became

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

chief in 1934 after Menzhinsky's death. *February 20, 1939: It becomes ''Laboratory 1'' headed by

Grigory Mairanovsky Grigory Moiseevich Mairanovsky (russian: Григо́рий Моисе́евич Майрано́вский, 1899, Batumi – 1964) was a Soviet biochemist and poison developer. Career Mairanovsky was born to a Jewish family in Batumi in 1899. ...

. The laboratory was under the direct supervision of NKVD director

Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

and his deputy

Vsevolod Merkulov Vsevolod Nikolayevich (Boris) Merkulov (russian: Всеволод Николаевич Меркулов; – 23 December 1953) was the head of NKGB from February to July 1941, and again from April 1943 to March 1946. He was a leading member of ...

from 1939 to March 1953. Victims included the American Isaiah Oggins. *March 14, 1953: It was renamed to ''Laboratory 12''. V. Naumov became the newly appointed head.

and

were executed after Stalin's death. Immediate NKVD supervisor of the laboratory,

, received a long term in prison. *1978: Expanded into the ''Central Investigation Institute for Special Technology'' within the

First Chief Directorate The First Main Directorate () of the Committee for State Security under the USSR council of ministers (PGU KGB) was the organization responsible for foreign operations and intelligence activities by providing for the training and management of cove ...

of the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. *Since 1991: Several laboratories of the SVR (headquartered in Yasenevo near

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

) were responsible for the "creation of biological and toxin weapons for clandestine operations in the West".

Human experimentation

Mairanovsky and his colleagues tested a number of deadly poisons on prisoners from the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

s, including mustard gas, ricin,

digitoxin Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside used for the treatment of heart failure and certain kinds of heart arrhythmia. It is a phytosteroid and is similar in structure and effects to digoxin, though the effects are longer-lasting. Unlike digoxin, w ...

curare Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...

, cyanide, and many others.Andrew Meier. 2008. ''The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service'', W. W. Norton. The goal of the experiments was to find a tasteless, odourless chemical that could not be detected ''post-mortem''. Candidate poisons were given to the victims, with a meal or drink, as "medication". Finally, a preparation with the desired properties called C-2 or K-2 (carbylamine choline chloride) was developed. According to witness testimonies, the victim changed physically, became shorter, weakened quickly, became calm and silent, and died within fifteen minutes. Mairanovsky brought to the laboratory people of varied physical condition and ages in order to have a more complete picture about the action of each poison.

and

Nahum Eitingon Nahum Isaakovich Eitingon (russian: Наум Исаакович Эйтингон ''Naum Isaakovič Ejtingon''), also known as Leonid Aleksandrovich Eitingon (russian: Леонид Александрович Эйтингон)

said that these experiments were approved by NKVD chief

. After Stalin's death and his arrest, Beria testified on August 28, 1953, that "I gave orders to Mairanovsky to conduct experiments on people sentenced to the highest measure of punishment, but it was not my idea". In addition to human experimentation, Mairanovsky personally executed people with poisons, under the supervision of Sudoplatov.History of Soviet poisonings (Russian)
by Boris Sokolov grani.ru

Prominent victims

* 1930: The leader of the

Russian All-Military Union The Russian All-Military Union ( rus, Русский Обще-Воинский Союз, abbreviated РОВС, ROVS) is an organization that was founded by White Army General Pyotr Wrangel in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 1 Septembe ...

, general Alexander Kutepov, was drugged and kidnapped in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

due to an overdose of the administered drug. * 1936: Nestor Lakoba, Abkhaz Communist leader * 1937: One of the leaders of the White movement and head of the

, Russian general Evgenii Miller, was drugged and kidnapped in

and later executed in Russia. * 1938:

Abram Slutsky Abram Aronovich Slutsky (russian: Абра́м Аро́нович Слу́цкий) (July 1898 – 17 February 1938, Moscow) was a Soviet intelligence officer who headed the Soviet foreign intelligence service ( INO), then part of the NKVD, fr ...

(17 February 1938) * 1940:

Nikolai Koltsov Nikolai Konstantinovich Koltsov (russian: Николай Константинович Кольцов; July 14, 1872 – December 2, 1940) was a Russian biologist and a pioneer of modern genetics. Among his students were Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovs ...

, famous Russian biologist * 1947: Cy Oggins was taken to Laboratory Number One (the "Kamera"), where

injected him with

, which takes 10 to 15 minutes to kill * 1947: Archbishop Theodore Romzha of the

Ukrainian Catholic Church Ukrainian Catholic Church may refer to: * Latin Church in Ukraine * Greek Catholic Churches (Eastern Catholic communities of the Byzantine Rite, centered in Ukraine, in communion with the Church of Rome) ** Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church **Ukrai ...

was killed by injection of

provided by Mairanovsky and administered by a medical nurse who was a Ministry for State Security agent. * 1971: Nobel prize laureate and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn was poisoned with what was later determined to be ricin. Solzhenitsyn survived the attempt. * 1978: Dissident Bulgarian writer

Georgi Markov Georgi Ivanov Markov ( bg, Георги Иванов Марков ; 1 March 1929 – 11 September 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident writer. He originally worked as a novelist, screenwriter and playwright in his native country, the People's Repub ...

was assassinated in London using a tiny pellet from an umbrella gun poisoned with ricin; the necessary equipment was prepared in this laboratory. Christopher Andrew and

Vasili Mitrokhin Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union's foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Di ...

, ''The

Mitrokhin Archive The "Mitrokhin Archive" is a collection of handwritten notes which were secretly made by the KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin during the thirty years in which he served as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Dir ...

: The KGB in Europe and the West'', Gardners Books (2000), In a Discovery Channel

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

about his illustrated book of espionage equipment called ''The Ultimate Spy'', espionage historian H. Keith Melton indicates that once the Bulgarian secret service had decided to kill Markov, KGB specialists from the Laboratory gave the Bulgarians a choice between two KGB tools that could be provided for the task: either a poisonous topical gelatin to be smeared on Markov, or an instrument to administer a poison pellet, as was eventually done. * 1979: Attempted poisoning of the second President of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Hafizullah Amin Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghan ...

on December 13, 1979. Department 8 of

succeeded in infiltrating the illegal agent Mitalin Talybov (codenamed SABIR) as a chef of Amin's presidential palace. However, Amin switched his food and drink as if he expected to be poisoned, so his son-in-law became seriously ill and, ironically, was flown to a hospital in Moscow.

Alleged victims

* Russian writer

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

and his son Max Peshkov. During the Trial of the Twenty-One in 1938, NKVD chief

admitted that he poisoned Gorky and his son and unsuccessfully tried to poison his own deputy (and eventual successor) Nikolai Yezhov. The attempted poisoning of Yezhov was later officially dismissed as falsification, but

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...

believed that the poisoning accusations were true. Yagoda was never officially rehabilitated (recognized as an innocent victim of political repressions) by Soviet authorities. * Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. Russian historians Anton Antonov-Ovseenko and Edvard Radzinsky believe that Stalin was poisoned by associates of NKVD chief

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...

, based on the interviews of a former Stalin bodyguard and numerous pieces of circumstantial evidence. Stalin planned to dismiss and execute Molotov and other senior members of the Soviet regime in 1953. Edvard Radzinsky Stalin: The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives (1997) According to Radzinsky, Stalin was poisoned by Khrustalev, a senior bodyguard briefly mentioned in the memoirs of Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin's daughter. * Georgi Dimitrov, the first Communist leader of Bulgaria, fell ill in 1949 and was sent to a Moscow hospital. His body was mummified and placed in a mausoleum. Stalin had no reason to have Dimitrov killed, because Dimitrov was his most loyal servant. However, Dimitrov had an idea of joining Bulgaria with Tito's Yugoslav Federation, which was not in the plans of Stalin. *

Nikolai Khokhlov Nikolai Yevgenievich Khokhlov (Cyrillic: Николай Евгеньевич Хохлов; 7 June 1922 – 17 September 2007) was a KGB officer who defected to the United States in 1954. He testified about KGB activities. The KGB unsuccessfully ...

, a KGB defector who survived a

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists William Crookes an ...

poisoning attempt in Frankfurt in 1957. ;Alleged FSB victims * Lechi Ismailov, a Chechen rebel commander sentenced in Russia for nine years in prison died in September 2002 after an unsuccessful attempt to recruit him as an informer by FSB. Shortly after being transferred from the Lefortovo prison to a regular prison, he had a "farewell" cup of tea with the FSB officer after which fell fatally ill, lost his hair and died shortly after. * Roman Tsepov, a Russian businessman close to

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

and

Tambov Gang The Tambov Gang (in russian: Тамбовская преступная группировка, ''Tambóvskaya prestúpnaya gruppiróvka'') is a large gang in Saint Petersburg, Russia. According to common allegations, it was organised in Leningrad ...

circles. * Amir Khattab, who was poisoned by a "a fast-acting nerve agent, possibly sarin or a derivative" transferred on a letter delivered by an FSB-recruited courier. * Yuri Shchekochikhin, a Russian journalist for the newspaper '' Novaya Gazeta'', Shchekochikhin investigated apartment bombings allegedly directed by the Russian secret services and the

Three Whales Corruption Scandal The Three Whales Corruption Scandal is a major corruption scandal in Russia involving several furniture companies and federal government bodies which has unfolded since 2000. 2000 smuggling investigation Three Whales (Tri kita/Три кита) i ...

which involved high-ranking FSB. Shchekochikhin died from a fast and mysterious disease shortly before his departure to the US to testify before FBI investigators. His medical documentation was classified as "state secret" by Russian authorities. *Journalist

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...

. During the

Beslan school hostage crisis The Beslan school siege (also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre) was a terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004, lasted three days, involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages ( ...

in September 2004 and while on her way to

Beslan Beslan (russian: Бесла́н; os, Беслӕн, ''Beslæn'', ) is a town and the administrative center of Pravoberezhny District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia, located about north of the republic's capital Vladikavkaz, ...

to help in negotiations with the hostage-takers, Politkovskaya fell violently ill and lost consciousness after drinking tea given to her by an Aeroflot flight attendant. She survived. The drug was allegedly prepared in the FSB poison facility. Politkovskaya was later shot to death in her Moscow apartment building in 2006. *Former KGB agent

Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised ...

. He was poisoned in a sushi bar in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 2006. Traces of

polonium Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84. Polonium is a chalcogen. A rare and highly radioactive metal with no stable isotopes, polonium is chemically similar to selenium and tellurium, though its metallic character ...

-210 were found in his body. In a farewell letter, Litvinenko accused President

of being behind the attack on his life. Litvinenko was critical of the Putin regime and accused the FSB of being behind the 1999 attacks in Russia. He died on 23 November 2006. * Viktor Kalashnikov, a freelance journalist and former KGB colonel, and his wife Marina Kalashnikova. In December 2010, the Charité hospital in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

discovered that they had been poisoned with mercury. Viktor Kalashnikov claimed it was the work of the FSB. * Karinna Moskalenko, a human rights lawyer who defended Litvinenko and other anti-Putin dissidents in court. She fell ill from mercury poisoning in October 2008, just prior to a hearing regarding the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya. Although initially alleged to be an attempt on her life, it was found by French police to be the result of a barometer broken in the car by the previous owner. *

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko ( uk, Віктор Андрійович Ющенко, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. As an informal leader of th ...

, the third

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

. Yuschenko was found to have been poisoned with TCDD dioxin during the

2004 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November and 26 December 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union. The last stages of the election ...

campaign. In 2009, he accused Russia of shielding a number of witnesses to his poisoning, and called on the Russian government to turn them over. *

Pyotr Verzilov Pyotr Yurievich Verzilov ( rus, Пётр Ю́рьевич Верзилов, p=ˈpʲɵtr vʲɪrˈzʲiləf; born 25 October 1987) is a Russian-Canadian artist and activist who came to prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the band Pussy Rio ...

, spokesman for the protest band

Pussy Riot Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist protest and performance art group based in Moscow that became popular for its provocative punk rock music which later turned into a more accessible style. Founded in August 2011, it has had a membership of appr ...

. Verzilov was admitted to a hospital in Moscow in September 2018, before being transferred to the Charité in Berlin. The German doctors believed it was "highly probable" that Verzilov was poisoned. *

Vladimir Kara-Murza Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кара-Мурза; born 7 September 1981) is a Russian political activist, journalist, author, and filmmaker. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he serves as vi ...

, opposition politician. Kara-Murza suddenly fell ill during a meeting in Moscow in May 2015, and was in a coma for more than a month. Coming on the heels of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow that February, his family suspected he had been poisoned. Kara-Murza was hospitalized again for an alleged poisoning in February 2017. *

Sergei Skripal Sergei Viktorovich Skripal ( rus, Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипáль, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ skrʲɪˈpalʲ; born 23 June 1951) is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent f ...

, former

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

officer and double agent for the British SIS, and his daughter Yulia. On 4 March 2018, the Skripals were poisoned with a Novichok agent in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where Sergei had been living since 2010. Both eventually recovered; in 2020, they were reported to be living under new identities in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. * Emilian Gebrev, Bulgarian arms dealer. Gebrev, his son, and one of his business partners were allegedly poisoned in April 2015. British investigators traveled to Bulgaria in 2019 to investigate an alleged connection between Gebrev's poisoning and that of the Skripals in England in 2018. *

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...

, anti-corruption advocate and opposition leader. Navalny fell ill on a flight from

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a n ...

on 20 August 2020, and placed into an

induced coma An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pe ...

at a hospital in Omsk. He was transferred to the Charité in Berlin two days later. Five laboratories certified by the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...

confirmed the presence of a new type of Novichok agent.

Planned victims

*President of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

Josip Broz Tito. In the late 1940s, the laboratory manufactured a powdered plague for use in a small container and where the assassin was vaccinated against plague. The device was to be used against Tito, but MGB agent Iosif Grigulevich, who had previously organized the assault on the villa of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

and now received the assignment to kill Tito, was recalled after the death of

. ;FSB era *The first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia,

Zviad Gamsakhurdia Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia ( ka, ზვიად გამსახურდია, tr; russian: Звиа́д Константи́нович Гамсаху́рдия, Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdiya; 31 March 1939 – 31 December 1 ...

. According to former Deputy Director of Biopreparat

Ken Alibek Kanatzhan "Kanat" Alibekov ( kk, Қанатжан Байзақұлы Әлібеков, Qanatjan Baizaqūly Älıbekov; russian: Канатжан Алибеков, Kanatzhan Alibekov; born 1950), known as Kenneth "Ken" Alibek since 1992, is a Kazak ...

, this laboratory was possibly involved in the design of an undetectable chemical or biological agent to assassinate Gamsakhurdia.

and S. Handelman. ''

Biohazard A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A bioh ...

: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World - Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran it.'' 1999. Delta (2000)

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

reported that some Gamsakhurdia friends believed he committed suicide, "although his widow insists that he was murdered."

Threatened dissidents

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

, the chess champion and Putin opponent, drinks bottled water and eats prepared meals carried by his bodyguards.

Notes and references

Sources

* PETLIURA, KONOVALETS, BANDERA - Three Leaders of Ukrainian Liberation Movement murdered by the Order of Moscow. Ukrainian Publishers Limited. 237, Liverpool Road, London, United Kingdom. 1962. (audiobook). *

and S. Handelman. ''

: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World - Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran it.'' 1999. Delta (2000)

*Vadim J. Birstein. ''The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science.'' Westview Press (2004) . *

and Christopher Andrew, ''The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World'', Basic Books (2005) hardcover, 677 pages
The Laboratory 12 poison plot
by Martin Sixsmith,

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

, April 8, 2007
The KGB's Poison Factory
by Boris Volodarsky,

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, 7 April 2005
History of Soviet poisonings (Russian)
by Boris Sokolov grani.ru
Organic poison (Russian)
by Vladimir Abarinov, grani.ru *Boris Volodarsky, ''The KGB’s Poison Factory: From Lenin to Litvinenko'' (London: Frontline Books, 2009) *Boris Volodarsky, ''Assassins: The KGB's Poison Factory 10 Years On'' (London: Frontline Books, 2019) ISBN 978-1-52673-392-4 {{authority control Research institutes in Russia Research institutes in the Soviet Union Toxicology Biological warfare facilities Chemical warfare Medical experimentation on prisoners Human rights abuses in the Soviet Union Human subject research in Russia Soviet intelligence agencies KGB 1921 establishments in Russia Research institutes established in 1921 Government agencies established in 1921 Soviet chemical weapons program Chemical warfare facilities Soviet biological weapons program Human rights in the Soviet Union Crimes against humanity