WEBVTT - 13) Russia's Murder Lab 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:03.920 All eight episodes of The Die For are available now 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:07.000 to bench absolutely free, but for ad free listening and 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:12.160 exclusive bonuses, subscribe to tendorfoot Plus at tenderfootplus dot com 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:13.600 or on Apple podcasts. 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.759 Warning, the following episode contains explicit language and sexual themes. 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:30.400 Listener discretion is advised. Can I ask you, when you 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.880 talk about Vladimir it's different than when you talk about 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:35.680 other targets in the past. 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:38.479 Absolutely, yeah, it was special. 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:43.839 And when I'm listening from my position, it sounds not 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:48.199 just like a target, but it sounds like there's a 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.080 romantic feeling when you're describing him. 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.400 No, I honestly I liked him. I liked his personality. 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.720 Whoever likes say to me about Vladimir that, oh he's 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:02.320 a killer, he's a or he's a criminal. But I've 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.560 seen by myself like how he he was so respectful 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:11.520 to other people, and like, just honest, he was justice. 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.160 I realized as Aleah is speaking that ever since she'd 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:19.840 been sent to Cheeshnya as punishment for rejecting her commander's advances, 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.160 she's constantly told me that she didn't want to live anymore. 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.600 But suddenly she stopped saying this. Now she seems to 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.840 want to live. The problem is that she's finally found 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.880 her happiness on the wrong side of the law. It 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:38.800 kind of sounds like to me like you were getting 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:39.440 lost in the Role. 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.240 You know, when I was sitting in the car with 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:46.920 all these guys, Vladimir in front, and all of them 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.600 they were armed, and they have a lot of cash 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:55.400 in their fogets, and then the black car with this 0:01:55.600 --> 0:02:01.480 like crazy loud music, and I felt in the movie, 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.280 I live another life which I never had before, and 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:12.880 I never even knew that this life may possibly exist. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:20.720 To kill you, I'm really sorry I had to do that. 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:32.400 I could on my juty away, how my God like 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:44.760 to like you. I had to treat you versus so 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:45.560 much for. 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.919 Episode thirteen, Chapter twenty eight, Lost. 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:21.560 In the Role, I stand up slowly so he wouldn't 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.200 wake up. I didn't go downstairs because I didn't know 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.640 exactly where these guys were steeping, but upstairs on the 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:30.400 second floor. 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.560 Well, Leah's mission was succeeding all too well. She was 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.840 now at the home of her target, Vladimir, who had 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.560 just fallen asleep. This gave her the opportunity to search 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.880 his home and discover any potential evidence that could take 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.400 down the drug trafficking and extortion gang that Vladimir was running. 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.840 It also gave her a very good opportunity to get caught. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.680 I wanted to see what was there. One room was 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.800 just a bedroom. I quickly checked the warp and everything. 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:05.240 It was just empty bedroom. And I opened the door 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:10.040 of another room and I saw like so far and 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.880 a big wardrobe. Near to the wardrobe, they were like 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:20.560 huge black trash bags. So I walked and I slowly 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:29.320 opened it and I saw that it was full of cash, 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:34.480 lots of lots of money in these black thrash bags. 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:41.000 I've never seen anything like that. I was shocked. And 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:46.120 then I opened the wardrobe and I saw automatic Kalashnikoff 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:50.440 guns just like in the line. And I saw some 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.800 the ten guns as well, and I kind of like 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:57.880 even got jealous because it was expensive and the aim 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:04.120 is just perfect. It's a perfect gun. I walked outside 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.000 and I went to the door which was on the corner, 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:11.480 and I opened the door and it was kind of 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.640 like an office because it was a table. There a 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.200 big map on the wall, and I saw there was 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:23.360 like some little pins on the map of the city. 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.039 They saw a lot of papers on the table. 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.080 Worried that she'd been out of the bedroom too long, 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.919 I might get caught searching the house, Aliyah decided to 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:38.560 return to Vladimir's room. However, as she's about to walk inside, 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:40.400 Vladimir opened the door. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:49.680 Vladimir just walked out of the bedroom and he said, like, 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.640 where have you been? Like I woke up and you 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.360 were not in the bedroom. I said, like, I'm so thirsty. 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.920 I don't know where to find water. He said, oh, 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:05.159 I'll bring you. Don't worry. Oh too bad, It's fine. 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.800 And I was thinking, oh my god, he almost caught me. 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.360 If he would walk around the house and see me 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:17.760 in that different like doors checking and everything, she could 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:23.440 kill me that moment. Straightway. I didn't sleep at all 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.760 all night. I was thinking about what I'm doing next 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.960 and what should I report exactly to my commander. 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.640 Leah had discovered no doubt, much to her relief, that 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.080 there was some evidentiary benefit to spending more time in 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.800 Vladimir's home. In order to help ensure that she'd be 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.880 invited back. That morning, she tried one last seduction gambit. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:50.800 In her bag, she had a small vial of a 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.240 perfume that she'd learned to formulate in her seduction training. 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.160 I sprayed on the pillow, so every time he would 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.279 go to his and sleep there, he will remember me, 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:07.440 like remember my smell. And I said to him, well, 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.280 I have to go home because I have to study 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:16.560 and my lesson starts very soon. And I woke outside 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:23.240 and then his security drove me home. I came back 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:28.080 home and I called to Sasha. I just said that Lisa, 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.679 we need to meet and I will explain you everything 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:32.320 in person. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.160 Later that day, Eliah left her apartment in case she 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.160 was being followed. She walked to the university campus, where 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.560 she claimed to be studying. There, she waited for her 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:49.200 colleague in the FSKN, Sasha, to arrive. They met at 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.600 a table in the student common area and she filled 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.360 them in on our progress the night before. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:58.200 I told him everything, and he said, if he would 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.560 call to you like in the night, do you understand 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.240 what he would do to you. I said, like, I know, 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.320 and he's like, please be careful, don't do this again. 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:10.840 He listened. For now, just try to be close to 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:15.400 him as you can. Listen to his conversations, listen to 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.240 his telephone calls, and he said that you should start 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:23.560 to bring more information about next places of hearing supplies. 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.560 I said, okay, I'll do my best, but just in 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:33.360 the beginning, give me some time. And I went back 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.640 through the university and then I returned to my house, 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.320 so just in case, I tried to make it look 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:43.280 like I was really student there. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.439 That night, round ten, she received a text from Vladimir. 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.800 He said to me, how are you beautiful? I'm thinking 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.040 about you. Well, I knew that he was thinking about me, 0:08:58.640 --> 0:08:59.920 because the smell was there. 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.320 He invited her out that night, but she said she 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:06.720 needed to stay home and get her homework done. 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.440 So I thought it's good that I didn't come straight 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:16.080 away the minute he called me, because in this case, 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:22.600 I show him that I'm not so desperate about our 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.360 communication and so needy. 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.280 A few days later, her colleague Sasha called. He said 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.520 that the team had decided that she should try to 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.040 get photos of the map and paper she'd seen. 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.120 The next morning, he brought me a small, little tiny 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:45.720 camera which I could put to my purse, and he 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.600 brought me a wire as well. The wire which you 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:53.840 basically put into the room and you can hear it 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.760 on the distance, and I had to put this device 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.840 somewhere where people would hang out the most. So I 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.240 thought that it would be better to put this device 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:10.040 into the dining kitchen area rather than to his office. 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.240 Elia's plan was to cook dinner for Vladimir and his 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.319 friends as a way to get some alone time in 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:16.920 the kitchen and plant the bug. 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.120 First of all, they say, if you want to your 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.839 men fall in love, you need to cook for him. 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:29.600 And I got some potatoes, some tomatoes, I got some meat. 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.160 Then the driver came and I brought the back with 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:38.839 the food with me, and they were finishing some conversations 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:43.079 while I was cooking. So I searched the kitchen very well. 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:48.720 I only found a good place, which was underneath the vase. 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.880 There was no flowers or something, but there were like 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:56.480 some kind of like decoration. So I put this device 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.880 inside in the vase, is like in the very bottom, 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:06.360 and then I put back this decoration. And then the 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.200 next task was to photograph all the important papers in 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:17.280 his office. I served the table and I call everybody 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:23.160 and said, like the food is served, And while they 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.200 were eating, I was standing and just like looking at 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.959 them and thinking, okay, So if they eat it, so 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:36.840 they trust me that I wouldn't poison them. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.480 After dinner, Vladimir took Alia upstairs. On the way, she 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.160 asked for a tour of the house, so. 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:48.120 He opened every door and he showed me, oh, this 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:52.560 is like the bedroom. He even showed me the room 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.839 where I saw there's like bags of cash, but they 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.360 were not there anymore. And then he said, like, this 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.560 is my office. He didn't open it, and I said, like, 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.679 I would love to see the place where you work 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:10.480 and I would love to learn more about you. He 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:15.200 opened the door and then I said like, oh, that's 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.040 why the whole magic happens. 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:19.480 And I. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.800 Said, oh, wow, this table is so solid. Do you 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.360 think it can handle us? Boss? He's like, what do 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:32.400 you mean? And I started to kiss him, and then 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:39.480 I went into the position where he can take me 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:44.920 from behind, where I was leaning at the table. So 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:47.400 in this case, I could see the map and I 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.640 could see exactly where it was, and it wasn't too dark, 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:57.280 so I could read numbers, streets, names on the papers. 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:02.120 And when he was taking me from behind, I was 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:07.760 looking at the table and like just trying to read these, 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.720 like you know, names on it and what exactly was there? 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.760 I couldn't remember everything, but I remembered some names. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.200 The next morning, Vladimir's driver brought Alia home. Shortly afterward, 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.560 she walked to the university in case she was being 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.240 watched and waited for a colleague, Sasha to arrive. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:37.640 He said, since you installed the microphone like the bag, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.160 let's just see what will happen, and then we'll give 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.679 you more like details. And he asked me for pictures, 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:47.640 which I didn't do, and I told him, like listen, 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.520 I didn't do it because it was not possible that time, 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.640 but I'll do it later, but for now, I gave 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.600 him names, and I gave him addresses. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.400 And this team researched this information and got back to 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:07.760 Aliyah with the news. These properties were in the exact 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.040 same area that Alah had seen on her first horrible 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:12.800 mission with the FSKN. 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.679 He checked the streets and these buildings. He said, it's 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:22.160 exactly where they were like having our operation exactly in 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:28.760 some houses there we saw all this overdose young kids 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:33.520 and teenagers. And there were the places where were sex, slavery, 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:40.320 prostitution basically where also they sold some hearings at Vladimir's map, 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.480 there were like three pins in that area. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.760 I asked Aleah how she felt knowing that the target 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.200 she was developing feelings for was complicit and the horrible 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.480 thing she'd seen, even if he was just taking protection 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.000 money from the traffickers. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.760 I knew that he was my target, and I knew 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:05.760 I was doing this for my job, my mission, my country, 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:10.360 for those kids who were killed and overdoors and kidnapped 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.880 for human trafficking. I knew all that. I just wanted 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:18.600 to I wanted to succeed in my mission, but at 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.160 the same time, I just wanted to understand is he 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.400 really so much deeply involved in that? 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.440 Sasha told Leah that if she wanted answers and to 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.960 complete her mission, it was important to get the photos 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:36.080 he'd ask for of all the documents in Vladimir's office. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.600 When Alee explained that she was worried that Vladimir would 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.360 wake up and find her there, Sasha came up with 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:43.920 this solution. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.720 He said, why don't you do it while he'll be 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:54.000 sleeping like really really deep. When I said to him, like, so, Howe, 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:56.400 I'm supposed to do it? And he said, like, just 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:01.920 give him, just give him some sleeping pills, and I 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.560 was like, Okay, which one? He said, like, I'll next time, 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.840 I'll give you some good sleeping pills. It just like 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:28.640 kills you for like ten hours straight. 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:38.320 Chapter twenty nine, two Friends, What. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:39.240 City do you live in? 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.160 I'm in now a Los Angeles. 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.080 If I didn't like you and I found you in 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:47.400 Los Angeles and stabbed you on the sidewalk, I would 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:48.680 immediately have heed on me. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.440 I'm speaking with Matt Tipton, an Army ranger, veteran, and 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.640 internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons response. 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.680 I'll explain why in a second, but first let's listen 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:02.280 a little more. 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:04.919 In minutes, somebody's going to find you and they're going 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.399 to see that you've been stabbed, and they're going to 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.000 do what's called a geo fence, and they're going to 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.320 look at what cell phones were in that little area 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.359 at the time. So they're going to nail me. But 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.439 if you have a drunken interaction when the guy outside 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.399 a bar and he shoves you or coughs on you, 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.520 or smears something on yourly cross, that guy's hand was 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.080 wet and you don't think anything of it, and then 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.359 you don't feel sick for forty eight hours, and you 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.960 don't get really sick for seventy two more hours. After that, 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.000 you're not going to meet you say, hey, I bet 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.879 that strange guy that bumped into me outside the restaurant 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:38.480 poisoned me. So it's a way for the spy to 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.879 get into the country. Do that, and then they go 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.200 to the airport, you know, decon themselves, take an antidote, 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:45.679 if there's one needed. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.080 Aliyah has talked often about poisons, about sleeping pills, and 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.200 about so called truth serums, So I decided to speak 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.639 to a few experts to get a better understanding of 0:17:56.680 --> 0:18:00.199 one of the most sinister aspects of Russian intelligence is 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:04.200 deadly use of chemical compounds to silence its enemies around 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.359 the world. Why does this seem to be such a 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.320 common Russian state security tactic that it's in the news 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:11.080 all the time. 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.240 Poison sends a message, and it gives you a way 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.439 to put more time between you and the victim before 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:21.880 there's a body involved. It's a cheap way to do it, 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.000 and it's also terrifying. If you're actively speaking out against 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:28.359 Putin and you start to get a tummy ache, you're like, 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.160 is this, it am I dying. It's a psychological warfare 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:35.600 aspect to it, and it's cheaper than a predator drone 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:37.920 with a satellite guided missile. 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.040 As an example of the intimidating psychological effect that Matt 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:45.480 Tipton is talking about, this is journalist Amy Knight, author 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.800 of several books critical of the Putin regime, most recently 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:49.960 The Kremlin's Noose. 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:53.320 In the early two thousands, I wrote for the Globe 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:57.880 and Mail fairly regularly, and I was terribly, terribly critical 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:02.359 of mister Putin. And at some point Russian embassy phoned 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.400 up the Globe and Mail and said that they were 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.800 going to kick their journalist who was in Moscow out 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:12.240 of the country, and they were going to do all 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:17.040 sorts of repercussions if Amy Knight didn't stop writing about Putin. 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:22.040 Amy Knight was eventually banned from entering Russia. But before that, 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.120 while she was in Moscow, something strange happened to her 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:26.600 that she still wonders about. 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.520 I was writing about Boris Nimpsov. I spoke with him. 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:37.119 Russian politician Boris Nimptsov, a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.040 is shot dead on a bridge in the shadow of 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:40.560 the Kremlin. 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.600 Second last day that I was there, I had lunch 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:48.680 with my research assistant who was Russian at the hotel, 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.639 and about three hours later I got so violently ill 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:59.720 that I just couldn't do anything, just you know, ter 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:04.359 stomach issues. And I was able to get myself on 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.679 the plane a couple days later, but that stomach thing 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.639 took a long time to go away, and they couldn't 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:16.120 figure out why I had this terrible stomach thing. And 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.440 I was thinking to myself that, you know, it unlikely 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.440 that it was like standard food poisoning in a very 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:27.680 upmarket hotel like the Marriotte with lots of foreign tourists. 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:33.679 And after that, I wondered whether somebody had slipped something 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.000 into my food, not to kill me, but to warn me. 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:42.720 So poisoning doesn't just work for eliminating a specific political target. 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.679 It also creates fear and uncertainty in every other enemy 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:47.800 and potential enemy. 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.840 I haven't really mentioned that in any of my writings 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:55.840 because it's speculative, and you know, it could have just 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:59.320 been bad luck, but I do wonder. 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.919 Poisons, of course, have been used throughout history for political ends, 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:10.879 taking down kings, emperors, religious leaders and philosophers. But why, 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:13.879 I asked journalist Samy Knight, does Russia seem to employ 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:16.840 this method more than any other country in modern times? 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:22.560 In Russia, this seems to be the method of choice 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:28.600 if you want to assassinate someone, either within the country 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:35.040 or abroad. The Russian started way back when in the 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:40.640 Soviet period what they called a secret poison lab. They 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:45.679 have a technical expertise that has continued and been passed on. 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:50.480 And the original poison lab was set up under Stalin's 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:55.600 secret police, and it continued on through the KGB, and 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.240 now of course there are secret laboratories that belong to 0:21:59.280 --> 0:21:59.840 the FSB. 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:04.560 The poisoning of Russian disson and Alexi Navolney has taken 0:22:04.600 --> 0:22:08.119 an even more bizarre term. A Russian agent sent to 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.320 tail opposition in a leader Navolney, has accidentally revealed how 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:14.520 he was poisoned. In August. The agent, a member of 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:18.440 an elite tocsins team in Russia's FSB security service, said 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:22.280 the lethal nerve agent Novachak, was planted in Avalney's underwear. 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:24.359 You're that right underwear. 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.960 One of the experts who's perhaps been the closest to 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:32.800 an actual poisoning is doctor Yuri Thalshtinsky. We'll get into 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:36.320 that exact story in the next episode, but for now 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:39.800 I called doctor Falshtinsky, a leading Russian historian and author 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:43.119 to better understand why literally part of the core curriculum 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:46.359 for an FSB agent is learning the use and concealment 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:47.240 of poisons. 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:52.560 Now, drugs, of course have a great advantage now one 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:57.679 and this is extremely important. It gives you time to escape. 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:02.800 And for example, with take recent poisoning some case of 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:07.000 Lithuanianka who was poisoned and in case of Scripwall who 0:23:07.080 --> 0:23:07.919 was poisoned. 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:11.320 Both of these are former FSB agents who were poisoned 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:14.800 in England for betraying Putin. One survived along with his 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:17.800 daughter who was also poisoned. The other didn't. 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:22.280 Those people who poisoned him had time to escape back 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:28.639 to Russia, while for example, mister Krasikov, who killed a 0:23:28.760 --> 0:23:32.720 Chichen military leader in Berlin in the middle of the 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:38.359 day using gun, was arrested. Or those people who killed 0:23:38.840 --> 0:23:43.199 former President of the Chechen Republic William han Jin Darbiev 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:49.320 in Katar using bomb. They successfully killed him, but they 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:53.000 were arrested. So you see this is the advantage when 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:56.840 you poison a person. But number two, it is not 0:23:57.119 --> 0:24:00.639 always known that the person is poisoned. Know some of 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:04.760 course in some cases, but in some other cases who knows. 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:07.760 Maybe we even do not know why is a person 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:11.159 was found dead. And there are some questionable death in 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:14.400 London as well, where we still do not know why 0:24:14.600 --> 0:24:18.200 the person actually left his life and was found dead. 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:23.360 So this is the advantage. That's why they using it successfully. 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:28.159 Considering all these poisonings. Not to mention shootings and bombings, 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:30.800 and we didn't even mention the Putin critic who fell 0:24:30.840 --> 0:24:33.160 to his death out of a hotel window. I tell 0:24:33.240 --> 0:24:37.479 doctor Falshtinsky that this is a lot of assassinations. His answer, 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:40.600 to my surprise, is to explain to me that it's 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:41.840 the law the. 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:48.040 Russian parliament was the law which allowed Russian special services 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.159 to kiel anymess of the state abroad. 0:24:52.720 --> 0:24:56.119 I asked doctor Falshtinsky how the Russian government determines whether 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.480 someone should be assassinated without a trial or arrested and 0:24:59.480 --> 0:25:01.879 put on trial. And here's his answer. 0:25:04.000 --> 0:25:08.199 They kill, I have to say in three cases. The 0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:11.879 first case is when the person commits treason. From the 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:14.760 point of view of the government, and this is the 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:20.000 case of both Lithuanianka and Scripal. For example, the same 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:24.520 was true about that a helicopter pilot who was recently 0:25:24.640 --> 0:25:29.200 killed in Spain. Prior to this, he defected to Ukraine 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:34.600 with his helicopter. Case number two, when people are competing 0:25:34.720 --> 0:25:39.680 for power against putting, and in these cases they kill preventively, 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:45.080 and this is an order. For example, Boris niaimself, who 0:25:45.200 --> 0:25:50.320 was killed righted the walls of Kremlin, and the same 0:25:50.520 --> 0:25:53.800 is true of course about Alexei Navalni, who was killed 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:58.080 because he was competing for presidential power. And the third case, 0:25:58.240 --> 0:26:03.440 I think when it's connected to big money, then we're 0:26:03.480 --> 0:26:08.879 probably going back to the mafia aspect of political life 0:26:08.920 --> 0:26:13.359 in Russia. But yes, when the mournia is involved, we 0:26:13.560 --> 0:26:16.320 see usually some killings. 0:26:19.680 --> 0:26:23.560 Clearly, Russian intelligence is a deadly world that operates by 0:26:23.600 --> 0:26:25.960 its own rules, which sound a lot closer to the 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:28.600 code of the Vori, the mafia than that of an 0:26:28.640 --> 0:26:32.119 elected government. Even Aliyah, who was working on what she 0:26:32.200 --> 0:26:34.480 felt was the right side of the law, had already 0:26:34.520 --> 0:26:37.959 been involved in a possible poisoning. We'll go deeper into 0:26:38.040 --> 0:26:43.119 Russia's poison factory next episode. But for now, let's return 0:26:43.160 --> 0:26:56.159 to Alia's experiences with these chemical agents. Aliyah had just 0:26:56.160 --> 0:26:59.000 been asked to administer sleeping pills to her target. Vladimir 0:27:00.080 --> 0:27:02.639 read to the mission, but first ask for more time 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:05.480 to build trust with Vladimir and his gang before taking 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:09.840 the risk and potentially blowing the operation. After all, the 0:27:09.880 --> 0:27:13.200 FSB agency poisoned boll Me has supposedly been following him 0:27:13.359 --> 0:27:14.520 for years. 0:27:16.080 --> 0:27:18.320 I said to Sasha, I said, I need more time 0:27:18.440 --> 0:27:22.679 to just like literally become his right hand, and I 0:27:22.680 --> 0:27:25.120 would need like at least a months to do that. 0:27:25.720 --> 0:27:27.800 He said, like, well, you have time as long as 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:34.080