The world has long known that Russian President Vladimir Putin hankers for a world long gone, one in which Moscow was a superpower and other countries routinely deferred to its preferences. Apparently, however, the Russian leader also prefers a world in which there is no rule of law, where national leaders are unchecked in their powers and free to do anything —including murder of political opponents — with impunity. That is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KBG agent who had crossed Putin. Another, equally troubling, conclusion is that Putin is likely to suffer no consequences from this brutal act.

Litvinenko was murdered in London in 2006 after meeting two former colleagues for about half an hour; during that meeting he drank cold green tea laced with polonium-210, an extremely radioactive substance. Despite consuming just three or four mouthfuls, Litvinenko absorbed enough of the poison to make death inevitable; photos from his deathbed show a once vigorous man reduced to a hairless, near cadaverous state in just over three weeks. His body was so radioactive that he was buried in a lead-lined casket and his autopsy was conducted by medical personnel in protective clothing.

Litvinenko accused the Russian authorities and Putin directly of ordering his killing, but it took several years before the clamor for an investigation produced results. Sir Robert Owen, a judge, was appointed to head a six-month investigation that concluded last week that the two men — Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB agent, and Dmitry Kovtun, a former Soviet Army officer — "were acting on behalf of others when they poisoned Litvinenko," most likely "under the direction of the FSB," the Russian security services. The operation, said Owen, "was probably approved by [FSB chief Nikolai] Patrushev and also by President Putin."