- Victims include anti-corruption activists and whistleblowers.
- Alexei Navalny was poisoned and nearly killed, then was arrested.
- Boris Nemtsov lobbied for an investigation and was later shot and killed.
- Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210.
During Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and fortune, he and his associates are suspected of silencing some of those who raised questions about the source of his apparent wealth.
Potentially dozens of people have been killed or survived poisonings and other assassination attempts or have had their investigations blocked or shut down, according to USA TODAY interviews and a review of documents and reports. Untold numbers of others have long looked the other way for fear of similar retribution.
