‘Umbrella’ assassination recalled amid cold war chill

The case that included James Bond-style gadgetry has been closed by Bulgarian authorities, writes Michael Thurston

THE infamous “umbrella” killing of Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov, which became a symbol of Soviet intrigue at the height of the cold war, is being remembered this week amid a new east-west chill.

Markov died on September 11, 1978 — 30 years ago on Thursday — after being stabbed with an umbrella while walking across London’s Waterloo Bridge, in a case that combined cold war skullduggery and James Bond-style gadgetry.