Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services

 
The poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services, alternatively known as Laboratory 1, Laboratory 12, and Kamera (which means "The Cell" in Russian), was a covert research-and-development facility of the Soviet secret police agencies. The laboratory manufactured and tested poisons; it reportedly reactivated in the late 1990s.
The laboratory activities were mentioned in the Mitrokhin archive.
Human experimentation.
Mairanovsky and his colleagues tested a number of deadly poisons on prisoners from the Gulags, including mustard gas, ricin, digitoxin, curare, cyanide, and many others. The goal of the experiments was to find a tasteless, odourless chemical that could not be detected "post-mortem". Candidate poisons were given to the victims, with a meal or drink, as "medication".
Finally, a preparation with the desired properties called C-2 or K-2 (carbylamine choline chloride) was developed. According to witness testimonies, the victim changed physically, became shorter, weakened quickly, became calm and silent, and died within fifteen minutes. Mairanovsky brought to the laboratory people of varied physical condition and ages in order to have a more complete picture about the action of each poison.
Pavel Sudoplatov and Nahum Eitingon approved special equipment (i.e., poisons) only if it had been tested on "humans", according to testimony of Mikhail Filimonov. Vsevolod Merkulov said that these experiments were approved by NKVD chief Lavrenty Beria. After Stalin's death and his arrest, Beria testified on August 28, 1953, that "I gave orders to Mairanovsky to conduct experiments on people sentenced to the highest measure of punishment, but it was not my idea".
In addition to human experimentation, Mairanovsky personally executed people with poisons, under the supervision of Sudoplatov.
Threatened dissidents.
"The New York Times" reported that Garry Kasparov, the chess champion and Putin opponent, drinks bottled water and eats prepared meals carried by his bodyguards.