Covert violence as a Kremlin tradition -- How the system works : Putin and his security services -- Galina Starovoitova : Putin's first victim? -- Terror in Russia : September 1999 -- Silencing critics -- Mafia--style killings in Moscow : Kozlov and Politkovskaya -- The litvinenko story -- The poisoning -- Continued onslaught against Kremlin challengers -- Boris Berezovsky : suicide or murder? -- The Boston Marathon bombings : Russia's footprint.