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In the spring of 1944, Kurt von Gottberg, the SS police chief in Minsk, was shot and injured by 2 Soviet agents. Although he was only slightly injured, he died 6 hours later. The bullets were hollow and contained a crystalline white powder. They were 4-g bullets, semi-jacketed in cupronickel, containing 28 mg of aconitine. They were later known as akonitinnitratgeschosse. The Sipo (the Nazi security police) then ordered a trial with a 9-mm Parabellum cartridge containing Ditran, an anticholinergic drug with hallucinogenic properties causing intense mental confusion. In later years, QNB was used and given the NATO code BZ (3-quinuclidinyl-benzylate). It was proven that Saddam Hussein had this weapon (agent 15) manufactured and used it against the Kurds. Serbian forces used the same type of weapon in the Bosnian conflict, particularly in Srebrenica.The authors go on to list the Cold War toxic weapons developed by the KGB and the Warsaw pact countries for the discreet elimination of dissidents and proindependence leaders who had taken refuge in the West. These weapons include PSZh-13 launchers, the Troika electronic sequential pistol, and the ingenious 4-S110T captive piston system designed by the engineer Stechkin. Disguised as a cigarette case, it could fire a silent charge of potassium cyanide. This rogues gallery also includes the umbrella rigged to inject a pellet of ricin (or another phytalbumin of similar toxicity, such as abrin or crotin) that was used to assassinate the Bulgarian writer and journalist Georgi Markov on September 7, 1978, in London.During the autopsy, the discovery of a bullet burst into 4 or 5 parts has to make at once suspecting the use of a toxic substance. Toxicological analysis has to look for first and foremost aconitine, cyanide, suxamethonium, Ditran, BZ, or one of the toxic phytalbumins. The use of such complex weapons has to make suspect a powerful organization: army, secret service, terrorism. The existence of the Russian UDAR spray gun in the present day, however, shows that these weapons are still present. The possibility that one might be used to spray a charge of cyanide is still very real, especially as it would not be very difficult for an informed amateur to produce homemade toxic ammunition by adapting existing civil or military cartridges.

The professional activity of professor V.L. Popov is considered with special reference to the major achievements of himself and his disciples in the field of forensic medical ballistics. The essence of provisions formulated by V.L. Popov on the mechanisms of formation and extent of gunshot injuries is discussed with regard to their importance for the determination of the large shooting distance. V.L. Popov is the founder of the scientific and pedagogical school that was justifiably regarded as the largest in this country and remains as such. The main achievements of this school have been obtained in studies of gunshot injuries.

The great Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837) died 46 hours after being wounded by a pistol shot in a duel. The bullet penetrated the right pelvic bone, continued through the lower abdomen, and crushed the right part of the sacral bone. Biographical events leading to the duel are presented in the article, which also reviews articles in Russian medical journals describing the extent of the trauma and discussing the treatment possibilities at the time of the duel as well as present-day treatment. It is concluded that death was caused by peritonitis and that only modern extensive abdominal and orthopaedic surgery combined with antibiotic treatment could have saved the poet's life.