Russia Vs Britain over the Polonium Death

All of you that have been following the bizarre saga of the radiation poisoning via the uber expensive (or should that be bolshoi?) polonium of Alexander Litvinenko. The British conducted an investigation and indicted Andrei Lugovoy on the murder. The Brits then went about the usual procedure of requesting an extradition. The Russians said, "Nyet!" Since then, there has been a tit-for-tat diplomatic silliness, but things are starting to get worse.

The Britz expelled some diplomats. The Russians did likewise. Then the Russians did something they have not done in a long, long time. They flew bombers to Britain. They did claim it had nothing to do with the flap though. erm, no pun intended. Then there's this lovely quote from today from Mr Putin:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denounced Britain's demands for the extradition of a suspect in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko as insulting and a relic of its colonial thinking.

"What they propose is an obvious vestige of colonial thinking," Putin was shown saying on Russian state television.

"They must have clearly forgotten that Britain is no longer a colonial power, there are no colonies left and, thank God, Russia has never been a British colony," Putin said.

Huh. That's odd. First World Nations regularly extradite suspects for trial to one another after a legal proceeding. I do believe that the Britz haven't done anything other than make a request for this to take place. I hardly see how its a case of colonialism. Frankly, the quote above sounds more like a Third World Dictator caught with his hands in the cookie jar and trying to score political points than Britain trying to be an empire again!