Any Russian critical of President Putin is now a potential enemy of the state
Natalia Arno was fully inside the hotel room before she noticed the smell. It was sickly sweet, like a cheap perfume at the drug store, only more nauseating.
It was May 2 2023, and Arno had arrived in Prague the night before, on part of a European tour. The Russian activist and non-profit director had been on the road, meeting with donors and organisers looking for ways to bolster democracy back in Russia. On the previous leg of her trip, Arno had felt a bit tired, like she was coming down with something. But now, after a day of meetings and a business dinner, she was full of her usual energy. She was just going back to her room to change into jeans, before meeting up for drinks with colleagues.
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Three hours later, Arno woke up with an excruciating pain inside her mouth — a burning sensation so unbearable she could barely open it. Arno is no stranger to pain. When she was 13, she dropped a pot of boiling water, burning herself so badly she had to spend a month in a hospital where there were no painkillers. She gave birth to her son without pain relief and treats most illnesses with a cup of hot tea and honey. But this agony surpassed any she had ever experienced.
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There are many ways to incapacitate an enemy. But, historically, few have proved so attractive to the Soviet and Russian security services as poisoning. Ever since Vladimir Lenin set up his poison factory, known as the “Special Room”, over a century ago, poisonings have become one of the Kremlin’s preferred ways to eliminate, cripple or terrorise enemies and critics. Over the decades, it has built up unrivalled expertise in the field.
That’s just sick. And in Prague, one of the safest cities in the world, of all places.
Why is considered Prague safe? It’s closer to Russian agents than, say, São Paolo or Vancouver.
Tourists ask if Prague is safe for a solo female traveller. Statistically, there is so little violent crime that you’re most likely to be safer there than in the capital city of whatever country/state you came from. Locals are generally accepting of anyone unless they go out of their way to provoke them.
However, Czechs are culturally quite opportunistic so you’ll need to take precautions against pickpockets and scammers but it’s quite easy and all explained on the Honest Guide YouTube channel.
As for Russian spies: it is hard to get statistics but there are definitely fewer than in Vienna, and I can imagine they can get you anywhere if they really wanted to. You’d need to be a very high-profile critic of Russia to become a target. The city is famously anti-Russia, having named the Russian embassy’s street “Ukrainian Heroes”. Still, there are scars of the Communist regime and some tourist trap stores sell Soviet-themed items to people who “don’t dare step further east into the former Eastern Bloc”.