Poisoned umbrellas and polonium: Russian-linked UK deaths
Salisbury’s former spy is not the first Russian to fall ill in Britain in mysterious circumstances
Georgi Markov, September 1978
In one of the most chilling episodes of the cold war, the Bulgarian dissident was poisoned by a specially adapted umbrella on Waterloo Bridge. As he waited for a bus, Markov felt a sharp prick in his leg. The opposition activist, who was an irritant to the authoritarian communist government of Bulgaria, died three
