Poisonings of Activists in the North Caucasus: A Low Threshold for Chemical Weapons Use Inside Russia?
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 18 Issue: 20
Timur Kuashev, Ruslan Magomedragimov and Nikita Isaev
On January 27, a reputable team of investigators from the Bellingcat organization published a report regarding the activities of the Russian security services’ poison squad. Investigators linked several Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives and civilian chemists to the death of journalist and activist Timur Kuashev in Kabardino-Balkaria in 2014, activist Ruslan Magomedragimov in Dagestan in 2015, and pro-Kremlin politician Nikita Isaev in 2019 (Ekho Moskvy, Bellingcat.com, January 27). The new investigation followed in the footsteps of the open-source intelligence outfit’s previous efforts to identify the people and organizations behind the poisoning of the prominent Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny with a military-grade chemical agent known as Novichok (