STRIKE THE TRUTH

Amidst the shadows of World War II, a formidable figure emerged, wrapped in a veil of mystery and bearing the ominous alias, "The White Mouse." Born in New Zealand in 1912, Nancy Wake's existence unfolded as a riveting narrative of bravery and allure. Originally a journalist, she seamlessly transitioned into the epicenter of the French resistance, deftly eluding the clutches of the Gestapo. Pursued relentlessly by the enemy, she later reemerged as a Special Operations Executive agent, gracefully parachuting back into the perilous landscapes of occupied France. Adorned with medals in recognition of her valor, Wake's enigmatic odyssey through espionage and resistance creates a spellbinding tableau of a woman who evolved into a living legend, imprinting an indelible mark on the clandestine chronicles of history. In this blog post, we delve into her extraordinary life and the profound impact she wielded on the events of World War II. EARLY LIFE Nancy Grace Augusta Wake wa...

Today will be remembered as a dark day in the history of Europe, and Ukraine. It's the day that Russia, unprovoked, launched a mass scale invasion on the peaceful, Western-leaning state.  War in Europe... something that should have stayed in the Second World War era! Mr Vladimir Putin is losing popularity in the West by the truckload. He is being compared to Hitler. But, these are just words. Words can affect, sure. However, what Ukraine needs right now is action.  Protest organised on 24 Feb outside the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, in support of Ukraine Praying and supporting Ukraine through Facebook and Twitter is nice, but it won't stop this injustice. The bodies pile up every moment that Russia is allowed to bomb cities in Ukraine. They aim at hospitals, at apartment buildings, military compounds, airfields. A kindergarten was shelled a few days ago, in a false flag operation, with small children nearby. Nothing will stop Russia, and Vladimir Putin, to a...

One option in the West's toolbox has been the threat to cut Nord Stream 2 from operations. Germany isn't delighted with this idea. Cutting gas acquirement from Russia means that Europe is left in an energy crisis. With finances decimated from pandemic restrictions, surging energy and life costs affect the bottom dollar of every European household. So, lets see what Nord Stream 2 is and why is it so hotly debated in the fight to prevent a European war. WHAT IS NORD STREAM 2? Nord Stream 2 is the sister project to the already functioning gas line, Nord Stream 1, that has been operational since 2011. It is an offshore project running from region of St Petersburg to Lubim, North-eastern Germany. It runs through the Baltic Sea, under the water. The pipeline was estimated at around 9.5 billion euros, but costs have run up to 11 billion euros. Its main shareholder is Gazprom. The project was started in 2018, and was due to be completed in 2019, but was finished in September 2021. Now,...

In this series, we have covered the poisonings of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal. We explored the events that led up to the pair comatose on a park bench and fighting for their lives. In Part 3 , we looked at how two individuals, Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, where responsible for the attack. Eventually, investigative journalists found that Ruslan Boshirov was GRU Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, and Alexander Petrov was, in fact, Alexander Mishkin. He is a doctor in the GRU.  In the final instalment of this series, we will have a look at the devastating death of Dawn Sturgess. A British national that thought she got some nice perfume as a present, but instead it was a death sentence. We will also check what the international and British reaction was to these tragic events.  DAWN STURGESS  On June 30th, Charlie Rowley found a bottle of perfume called Premier Jour by Nina Ricci. It was wrapped up in plastic, so he thought he scored a goo...

In Part 2 of the series, we had a look at the family moving to England and finished with Sergei and Yulia lying on a park bench, foaming at the mouth and comatose. They have been exposed to the deadly nerve agent, Novichok. In this post, we will take an in-depth look at Novichok and also at the two perpetrators of this crime, and the events that transpired.  NOVICHOK AGENTS  Novichok agents are a group of deadly nerve agents that have been developed in the Soviet Union, under their poisons program. ( We covered this in THIS post.) They were developed under a programme with the codename FOLIANT.  Examples of structures of Novichok agents  The Novichok agents first came to media awareness when a Russian chemist, Dr Vil Mirzayanov reported on their existence to Russia media in the 1990s. He wrote about it in his book, State Secrets, and even published the chemical formula. He moved to the USA around the same time, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the s...

"A person gives over his whole life for his homeland and then some bastard comes along and betrays such people. How will he be able to look into the eyes of his children, the pig. Whatever they got in exchange for it, those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them. Believe me!”  Mr. Putin, practically snarling, said when asked to comment about the swap on live television.  Mr Vladimir Putin, President of Russia  In Part 1 , we left off with Mr Sergey Skripal being taken to USA on a private plane after being exchanged in a swap, together with 3 other people. OPERATION GHOST STORIES After years of observation and gathering intelligence, the FBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigations) led a sting against 10 Russia sleeper agents on June 27, 2010. Instead of putting them in jail, the US government decided that it was worth it to swap these 10 spies back to Russia for 4 people that the US was interested in. The idea was to do this swap and then this whole epi...

What happens when a highly regarded botanist finds traces of poison in the victims s ystem, but the official toxicology reports come up with nothing? How can we know the exact cause of death of Mr Perepilichnyy when the experts themselves are fighting with the evidence? And the final question is how is it possible that there is confusion with evidence if the investigation is processed properly in the first place? Lets see how the police botched the case in this final installation in our Perepilichnyy series. POLICE INVESTIGATION  There has been a lot of controversy and confusion in this case, and how the police handled it. The insurance company, Legal & General, that was providing life insurance for Perepilichnyy launched an investigation into his case as they suspected he died of murder. They signed on a botanist called Monique Simmonds to test whether there was poison presented in his system. She worked at Kew Gardens and had a reputation for helping in these matters. Botanis...