Novičok nebo kulka: Jak umírají Putinovi kritici – Kundra Ondřej (2021)

The explosion of an ammunition depot in Vrbětice and the assassination of double agent Sergei Skripal in British Salisbury are both the work of the same military organization – the Russian intelligence agency GRU. These cases are among many indications that Russian secret services and their special assassination squads are increasingly operating on European soil, including the Czech Republic, and their confidence and aggression are growing. Investigative reporter Ondřej Kundra uncovers the background of these and other cases, such as the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, the murder of Chechen commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, the attempted coup in Montenegro in 2016, and the supply of Czech weapons intended for Russian agents. The broader context suggests that these are not isolated incidents, but rather a sophisticated system aimed, among other things, at eliminating critics of Putin's regime. However, the author offers much more than just these accounts. He turns the lens inward to the journalistic kitchen and describes the history and functioning of the international investigative group Bellingcat, with which he collaborated to uncover one of the agents in the Skripal and Vrbětice cases. It is a disturbing and cautionary look into the dark corners of the Kremlin's political objectives.