Marina Litvinenko – författare

The assassination of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko in November 2006 -- poisoned by the rare radioactive element polonium -- caused an international sensation. Within a few short weeks, the fit forty-three-year-old lay gaunt, bald, and dying in a hospital, the victim of a "tiny nuclear bomb." Suspicions swirled around Russia''s FSB, the successor to the KGB, and the Putin regime. Traces of polonium radiation were found in Germany and on certain airplanes, suggesting a travel route from Russia for the carriers of the fatal poison. But what really happened? What did Litvinenko know? And why was he killed? The full story of Sasha Litvinenko''s life and death is one that the Kremlin does not want told. His closest friend, Alex Goldfarb, and his widow, Marina, are the only two people who can tell it all, from firsthand knowledge, with dramatic scenes from Moscow to London to Washington. Death of a Dissident reads like a political thriller, yet its story is more fantastic and frightening than any novel. Ever since 1998, when Litvinenko denounced the FSB for ordering him to assassinate tycoon Boris Berezovsky, he had devoted his life to exposing the FSB''s darkest secrets. After a dramatic escape to London with Goldfarb''s assistance, he spent six years, often working with Goldfarb, investigating a widening series of scandals. Oligarchs and journalists have been assassinated. Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yuschenko was poisoned on the campaign trail. The war in Chechnya became unspeakably harsh on both sides. Sasha Litvinenko investigated all of it, and he denounced his former employers in no uncertain terms for their dirty deeds. Death of a Dissident opens a window into the dark heart of the Putin Kremlin. With its strong-arm tactics, tight control over the media, and penetration of all levels of government, the old KGB is back with a vengeance. Sasha Litvinenko dedicated his life to exposing this truth. It took his diabolical murder for the world to listen.

A powerful and personal memoir that tells the real story behind the headlines of how two people got caught up in a struggle against Putin’s regime – one that continues today.The photo of Alexander Litvinenko lying on his deathbed in November 2006, poisoned by polonium, caused shockwaves around the world. But how did it come to this? And why are the lessons he provided still important now, twenty years on? In Marina Litvinenko’s compelling new memoir, A Life in Fragments, we find out exactly why and discover the inspirational personal story behind the public tragedy.Marina met the man who would change her life on her thirty-first birthday; she was a dancer while he was an agent in the Russian security services. They fell in love and soon had a son, Anatoly. But Russia in the 1990s was a difficult place in which to live a happy family life; soon, Alexander was uncovering corruption at the heart of the state in the aftermath of the communist era. His fearless investigations led to his arrest and imprisonment on false charges; eventually the Litvinenkos had to escape the country, seeking political asylum in the UK.Litvinenko remained an outspoken critic of Putin’s regime, which could not be tolerated. His murder left Marina seeking justice for her husband, but she was obstructed every step of the way by Russia. Even the British government appeared reluctant to hold Russia to account, and it wasn’t until 2016 that a public inquiry finally confirmed it had been a ‘state sponsored murder’. Marina had won her battle, providing hope to all those who continue to fight to reveal the crimes of Putin’s regime and to deliver justice for the victims.