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Who Russians Think Killed Litvinenko
According to data gathered by Levada Center pollsters, few Russians (4%) believe that Alexander Litvinenko was killed for the sake of creating tension in Russia to make it possible for Russian President Vladimir Putin to serve a third term. Hardly more (5%) believe that he was killed to compromise Putin personally. No there is no dominant opinion on the matter among the public. The most common suggestions is that Litvinenko was killed by his “business partners.” That explanation was supported by 20 percent in the poll conducted December 8-12. Another 15 percent suspect Boris Berezovsky of the crime, 10 percent suspect the Russian special services, 8 percent suspect the special services of other countries and 8 percent think that Litvinenko was poisoned accidentally while carrying the Polonium-210.
Opinion is similarly divided on the motive for his killing. Fourteen percent of Russians think that Litvinenko was killed to compromise Russia or to eliminate him as a possible source of compromising material about Russia. Young people (ages 18-24) were notably less inclined to blame Berezovsky for Litvinenko's death (8% vs. 15% overall) or to believe that Litvinenko was killed to compromise Russia (8% vs. 14% overall). Twenty-eight percent of those polled were unable to suggest any motive for Litvinenko's killing, and 26 percent were unable to suggest any possible guilty parties for it.
“There has been no official version stated; that's why there is such variation,” noted Levada Center director Lev Gudkov. The popularity of the theory about business partners reflects the inclination in popular consciousness to interpret complex phenomena as personal as the result of personal interests or conflicts. That is not always the case, however. The most common suspect blamed for the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya (19%) is “opposition forces interested in destabilizing the situation in Russia.” It is possible that that result was effected by the fact that Putin expressed that opinion several days before the poll was taken. Twelve percent of respondents blamed those close to Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. Russian special services were blamed by 6 percent. Half of Russians could suggest no suspects in that killing.
The theory that Litvinenko was killed by business partners is gaining semi-official status, Gudkov said. If that is so, it will significantly gain in support. Gudkov noted one clear trend in the statistics: Russians are disinclined to see Russian authorities responsible for the killing, and prefer to attribute guilt for it to outsiders.
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All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 15, 2006
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