Update (1/30/07 2:12 p.m. Mountain): I’m not totally convinced about the validity of this thing.  I discussed it with my son at length and he, too, feels that this thing could be some sort of contrivance or hoax.  I queried my brother (someone who has spent quite some time in Russia), and he thinks it’s real.  I just don’t know.  I’d prefer to err on the side of caution simply because the story is so bizarre…. 

The original post: 

Take a look at this cool video of Russian special forces troopers participating in a 2002 skills competition at a private security training center.  Pay attention now, because there’s going to be a quiz after the video.

Did you notice anything odd about it?  If you didn’t, go back and look at it again.  Pay special attention to the face on the target that these studs are shooting at.  Here’s a video still of the target, complete with bullet holes:

 That’s right, it’s the face of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian KGB agent who recently died in London of polonium-210 poisoning.

Fox News reports:

Sergei Lysyuk, Vityaz [Training] Center’s chief, said the video is from 2002 and shows military recruits. He said he was unaware the target depicted Litvinenko, who died of radiation poisoning after eating at a sushi restaurant.
[…]
‘The fact that it was Litvinenko, we only found out later from the press,’ Lysyuk said. ‘We did not shoot at Litvinenko; we shot at a target.’
[…]
Lysyuk insisted his company does not normally hold such contests and was granting a favor to former Interior Ministry colleagues, whose own training ground was being repaired.  (Emphasis added by Effluent.)

The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks. 

The Kremlin has consistently denied any complicity in Litvinenko’s death, and Russian authorities have been slow to cooperate with Scotland Yard in investigating Mr. Litvinenko’s murder.  Fox News reports that “Russia has said it would not extradite any citizen charged by Britain in the case.”

“Russian news media have widely suggested Litvinenko was killed by Putin opponents in an attempt to tarnish the Kremlin,” the Fox News report adds.

And I suppose those same “Putin opponents” put the Litvinenko targets up at the special forces competition, too?

In a related story:

 Eh?  A gratuitous photo for the ladies?  Perhaps.  But there’s another reason for me to post it.  Radio Telefís Éireann is reporting that Johnny Depp plans to develop a film based on the Litvinenko saga:

Variety reports that Warner Bros. has bought the rights to Alan Cowell’s upcoming book ‘Sasha’s Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy’ for Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil to develop.
[…]
The trade daily says that as with any project that Depp’s production company develops, the actor could also star in the film.
[…]
He is reported to have been following the Litvinenko story closely.
[…]
Author Cowell is the New York Times London bureau chief and the book is set to be published later this year.  (Emphasis added.)

Should be interesting.

For more information on this topic:

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