Russia has a lot of explaining to do

■ Vasily Velichkin writes that the

Irish Independent made “outlandish claims somehow implicating Russian special services and even President Vladimir Putin in the incident with the Russian ex-convict in England” (‘Nyet to “Russophobic” coverage’, Irish Independent, March 8).

Little did he know that Putin himself made outlandish claims that enemies of

Russia “will be served with poison”.

Mr Velichkin criticises British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for not waiting for the police protocol in blaming the Russian government – as if the Russian government was known for exercising restraint in blaming foreign governments (ie, last November, Russia’s Ministry of Defence and Russian state TV published images they described as “irrefutable evidence” that the US is covertly supporting Isis – “evidence” that later turned out to be screenshots from a video game).

He says “the British officials have plenty of explaining to do” – this comes from the same Russian government that refuses to return the most important piece of evidence in the 2010 Polish presidential plane crash in Smolensk – the wreckage of the plane.

Speaking of having plenty of explaining to do, Frank Taylor – one of the best air crash experts in the world, who investigated the Lockerbie B747 and Pan Am 103 air crashes, among many others – is convinced there were explosions on board of the Polish plane before it hit the ground. He proved the Russian authorities doctored the cockpit voice transcripts.

Grzegorz Kolodziej Bray, Co Wicklow