In yesterday's Guardian, their Moscow correspondent Luke Harding posted an interview with Litvinenko poisoning prime suspect Lugovoi.
Unfortunately, far from providing any new revelations or even insights, the piece read like a tired, thrice-removed smorgasbord of conspiracy theories, hyperbole, tired stereotypes and faintly disguised jingoism at Russia's ostensible failure to cooperate with the British authorities.
Harding was a bit lazy. Before writing the article, he should have at least consulted this much more deeply researched and considered constribution from Mary Dejevsky that came out barely three weeks ago in the Independent. Maybe then he would have either realised the redundancy of his own ‘effort’ (don't be deceived: a Lugovoi interview is hardly a scoop, as he gives them regularly), tried to contribute something original, or simply copied it.
It would certainly have also helped to investigate and scrutinise a little more the English authorities’ and Berezovsky's sides of the story.
Harding's piece reminded me of a story that used to run every year, without fail, in the otherwise excellent Moscow Times, about Russia's ‘quaint’ annual water mains repairs that turn off hot water supplies for weeks on end in the autumn in preparation for winter. The annual article, unphased by any new developments, insights or changes that may have actually occured in real life since 1991, was more an opportunity to rehash old ‘funny’ prejudices about what a weird and byzantine country Russia is than to inform and stimulate thought.