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Alexander Litvinenko told Met police Putin ordered his murder, inquiry told
Public inquiry into his death told that Russian dissident said he had no doubt whatsoever it was done by the Russian secret service

Esther Addley
Tuesday 27 January 2015 05.45 EST

Alexander Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of personally ordering his murder in deathbed interviews with the Metropolitan police in the days before he died, the public inquiry into his killing has heard.

On the opening day of the inquiry into the Russian’s murder in 2006, the court was told that the dead man spoke to officers from his hospital bed, after being poisoned by radioactive polonium, in which he said he had “no doubt whatsoever that this was done by the Russian secret service”.

“Having knowledge of this system I know that this order about such a killing of a citizen of another country on its territory, especially if it is something to do with Great Britain, could have been given only by one person,” Litvinenko had told the investigating officer, Robin Tam QC, counsel to the inquiry, told the court on Tuesday.

Asked who that person was, said Tam, Litvinenko said: “That person is the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. And of course, now while he is still president you won’t be able, because he is the president of a huge country crammed with nuclear chemical and bacteriological weapons.

“But I have no doubt whatsoever that as soon as the power changes in Russia, or when the first officer of the Russian secret services defects to the west … he will say that I have been poisoned by the Russian special services on Putin’s order.”

In another statement, Tam told the court, Litvinenko said he was “very upset that this criminal Putin sits at G8 as its chairman, at the same table as the [then] British prime minister, Tony Blair. Having sat this murderer next to themselves at the same table, western leaders have actually untied his hands to kill anyone, anywhere.”

Litvinenko died on 23 November 2006, 22 days after ingesting a fatal dose of the radioactive element polonium-210. “It is unusual,” Tam told the inquiry chair, Sir Robert Owen, “for a victim of murder, as Mr Litvinenko believed he might shortly be, to make a public statement about his own death.”

Litvinenko fled Russia in 2000 and was given political asylum in the UK; he became a British citizen a month before his death but remained a vocal critic of the Putin regime.

Reading from transcripts of his police interviews, Tam said the dead man told police: “Yes, they did try to kill me and possibly I will die. But I will die as a free person and my son and wife are free people.”

The court heard that Litvinenko told police he took his son Anatoly, then 12, to the Tower of London before he died, showed the boy the crown jewels and urged him to “defend this country in future until the last drop of your blood”.

The killing of Litvinenko gives rise to issues of the “utmost gravity” which have attracted “worldwide interest and concern”, Owen had earlier said. Opening the inquiry on Tuesday, more than eight years after the Russian dissident was murdered in London, he vowed to carry out “a full and independent inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Alexander Litvinenko”.

Owen has told previous hearings that he has seen evidence which amounts to a “prima facie case” that Litvinenko was murdered by the Russian state.

He would consider evidence relating to this allegation, he said, but confirmed that it would be heard in closed session because of security sensitivities.

The Crown Prosecution Service has sought to prosecute two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, over Litvinenko’s murder, but Russia has refused their extradition. Litvinenko met with both men on the day of his poisoning in a London hotel. Both men deny involvement.

Owen said the two men would be invited to give evidence to the inquiry by video link.

The government originally refused Owen’s request for a public inquiry into the murder, admitting the decision was taken in part for fear of offending Russia. The dead man’s widow Marina Litvinenko challenged the decision in court and in February last year the high court ruled that Theresa May, the home secretary, should reconsider her decision.

The government announced in July that it would grant a public inquiry, under Owen, days after Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea.

The inquiry will hear evidence that Litvinenko had been ordered, as a senior officer in the FSB, to murder the Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky in 1997, Tam told the court on Tuesday. Litvinenko had disagreed with the order and warned Berezovsky of the plot, before protesting to the then head of the FSB, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting the following year, he said.

Litvinenko had spoken out publicly about corruption in the FSB in a press conference in 1998, after which he was subject to a number of attempted prosecutions.

Addressing Owen, Tam said: “You will need to consider whether Litvinenko’s sustained public attacks on the regime, on the FSB and on Mr Putin in particular, could have had any connection with his death.”

The inquiry is likely to hear evidence that the dead man was working for MI6 and for the Spanish security services at the time of his death, Tam told the court, though he said the British government had made clear that it would neither confirm nor deny the suggestion.

He said the chairman would need to consider whether this could have provided a motive for the killing, and would also be required to examine allegations that Berezovsky, a close friend and patron of Litvinenko in the years before his death, was behind the murder, as some have alleged.

Tam told the court that Litvinenko’s home had been firebombed in 2004, apparently by two Chechen men.

In addition, he said, the dead man’s friend, the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was murdered in October 2006, after which Litvinenko had made a statement at the Frontline Club in London in which he blamed Putin.

“Is it possible that there is any connection between this public statement and Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning less than two weeks later?

Alexander Litvinenko 'killed on third attempt'

Alexander Litvinenko's widow Marina recalls his final words to her

Who was Alexander Litvinenko?
Will inquiry find answers?
Two prior attempts to kill ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko may have been made before he died from radiation poisoning in 2006, the BBC has learned.

The one-time officer with the successor to the KGB fled to the UK where he became a fierce critic of the Kremlin and worked for security service MI6.

A public inquiry into the London death of the 43-year-old opens on Tuesday.

Mr Litvinenko's widow says the inquiry will give people "a chance to understand who killed my husband".

Marina Litvinenko says he blamed the Kremlin as he lay dying in hospital but Russia denies any involvement.

Her lawyer has described his murder as "an act of state-sponsored nuclear terrorism on the streets of London".

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said investigators followed a radioactive trail across London and it suggested Mr Litvinenko was poisoned not on the first attempt, but on the third.

'Right decision'
The judge-led inquiry will be chaired by Sir Robert Owen, who was originally appointed as the coroner at Mr Litvinenko's inquest.

Sir Robert delayed the inquest and called for a public inquiry because the inquest could not consider sensitive evidence due to national security fears. The UK government resisted the move at first but later changed its stance last July, amid worsening relations with Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.

Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun deny any involvement in the death
The death of Mr Litvinenko, who took British citizenship after his arrival in the UK, had already led to a clouding of relations between London and Moscow, with expulsions of diplomats from the embassies of both countries.

He died three weeks after becoming violently ill in November 2006 following a meeting with two former Russian agents at the Millennium Hotel in central London.

UK police say radioactive polonium-210 was administered in a cup of tea, and identified two suspects in the case - Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun. But the two Russians have disputed their claims.

The issue of who was ultimately responsible for the death will be considered at the inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Parts of the evidence will be heard in private, and Sir Robert says it is "inevitable" that some of his final report will stay secret for security reasons.

Mrs Litvinenko told the BBC she had accepted this and trusted Sir Robert to "make the right decision".

Alexander Litvinenko public inquiry: Live updates
Jan 27, 2015 12:42 By Anthony Bond
The former KGB agent died in November 2006 after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 while meeting two Russian men at the Millennium Hotel in London

12:42 pm
Litvinenko poisoned "not once but twice".
Tam has also revealed that evidence will reveal that Litvinenko was poisoned "not once but twice".

The first occasion, which had not been documented before, is thought to have taken place when Litvinenko met Lugovoi and Kovtun in London's Grosvenor Street.

This meeting took place on October 16, 2006 and Tam told the inquiry that Litvinenko was unwell shortly after the meeting.

Two weeks later on November 1, the former spy was again poisoned at the Millennium Hotel. He died on November 23.

12:24 pm
Radiation found at Arsenal's Emirates stadium after visit by suspect
The inquiry is told that traces of radiation were found in a number of places across London which had been visited by the two suspects.

They met the former spy at a number of hotels, bars and restaurants. Lugovoi also went to Arsenal's Emirates stadium to watch their game against CSKA Moscow.

Scientists found traces of radiation at the Emirates stadium as well as aircraft, cars and hotels used by the pair.

12:14 pm
Two key suspects made regular visits to London before Litvinenko's death
The inquiry has heard that the two key suspects over the former spy's death are Andey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun.

It is hoped that they will give evidence by videolink from Russia.

Tam is now going through a number of visits the pair made to London in 2006.

This included a series of meetings with Litvinenko.

12:01 pm
Litvinenko accused Putin over murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya
The hearing heard how Litvinenko was friends with murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

The reporter - who was known for her opposition to Putin - was murdered in October 2006.

Litvinenko later made a statement in London blaming the Russian president for her death.

Tam told the inquiry: “Is it possible that there is any connection between this public statement and Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning less than two weeks later?”

11:50 am
Litvinenko told police: "Vladimir Putin ordered my murder"
The former spy told detectives following his poisoning that he has "no doubt" that Vladimir Putin ordered his murder.

Tam read out police interviews with Litvinenko following his poisoning.

When asked who he thinks is responsible for ordering his death, Litvinenko said: "That person is the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin."


11:42 am
The hearing was also told that Litvinenko received threats while he was in London.

This included the firebombing of his house.

11:37 am
Litvinenko wrote books and articles on alleged FSB corruption
Tam tells the inquiry it will have to decide exactly how serious Russia viewed Litvinenko's opposition.


The hearing is also told how Litvinenko wrote books and articles on what he claimed was FSB corruption.

The inquiry will also look at whether Litvinenko worked for MI6 while in UK.

11:28 am
Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a paedophile
Tam tells the hearing that Litvinenko began political campaigning against the Putin regime.

This included accusing the Russian president of being a paedophile.




Mr Tam said to inquiry chair Mr Owen that he will have to consider whether Litvinenko's actions "could have had connection with his death".

11:17 am
Litvinenko became public whistleblower and campaigned against Putin
Tam tells the hearing that became disillusioned with his work with the Russian state security service the FSB.

He went on to become a public whistleblower who campaigned against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He also converted to Islam at the end of his life.

11:03 am
Evidence of Russian state responsibility into death will be heard in private
Sir Robert Owen has revealed how sensitive evidence on the responsibility of the Russian state in Mr Litvinenko's death will be heard in private.

The inquiry will look to identity who is responsible for his death.


10:58 am
More than 70 witnesses will speak at hearing
Mr Tam is explaining who will give evidence in the coming weeks.

He says more than 70 witnesses will speak at the hearing.

This includes friends and family of Litvinenko, people he worked with before and after his death and medical staff who treated the former spy in his final weeks.

10:54 am
Lawyer: 'Thousands of members of public could have been at risk from radioactivity'
Robin Tam QC, counsel to the inquiry, said a public health alert was issued around the time of Mr Litvinenko's death when traces of polonium were found in "large numbers of places across London".

"Many thousands of members of the public, including British residents and visitors from overseas, might have been at risk from radioactivity," Mr Tam said.

10:50 am
Evidence shows is 'prima facie case' as to culpability of Russian state
Sir Robert Owen said sensitive evidence had established that there is a "prima facie case" as to the culpability of the Russian state in Mr Litvinenko's death.

Giving the background to the case, he said Home Secretary Theresa May wrote to him in July 2013 informing him that the Government had decided not to hold an inquiry at that time.

Sir Robert said: "Her decision was challenged in a claim brought on behalf of Marina and Anatoly Litvinenko (his wife and son) and was quashed in a judgment of the divisional court dated February 11 2014.

GettyAlexander LitvinenkoAlexander Litvinenko is pictured at the Intensive Care Unit of University College Hospital on November 20, 2006
"In short, I will carry out a full and independent inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Alexander Litvinenko."

Sir Robert said that both Lugovoi and Kovtun have been invited to give evidence to the inquiry via video link from Russia - an "invitation I hope will be accepted".

10:42 am
Robin Tam QC is currently speaking at the hearing.

He is one of the lawyers working on the inquiry.

Tam is currently discussing how the inquiry will work and how evidence will be heard.

10:30 am
Death of Russian spy is of 'upmost gravity'
The death of Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko gives rise to issues of "utmost gravity" including allegations of state-sponsored assassination, the chair of a public inquiry has said.

Opening the long-awaited hearing into British citizen Mr Litvinenko's death, Sir Robert Owen outlined some of the key issues and events.

Sir Robert said it has been noted that polonium - the deadly substance that was used to poison Mr Litvinenko in November 2006 - could have been used to "kill large numbers of people or spread general panic and hysteria among the public".

Mr Litvinenko, 43, died in hospital nearly three weeks after he had consumed tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 while meeting two Russian men - one a former KGB officer - at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square.

Former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun have been identified as the prime suspects in the killing, but both deny any involvement and remain in Russia, the inquiry heard.

9:52 am
An inquiry will begin this morning into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

The widow of the former KGB agent has said she hopes the inquiry into his death reveals the truth of his killing.

Marina Litvinenko, speaking as the inquiry was due to open today, said she was "fed up" with rumours that her tragic husband had smuggled radioactive material for a dirt bomb.

She said: "I know my husband was killed, I saw how it happened. It was a torture. He died a long 23 days in front of me, in front of his son, in front of his friends."

The long-awaited public inquiry is due to open today at the Royal Courts of Justice - eight years after the spy died in a poisoning. It is expected to last up to 10 weeks.

Mr Litvinenko died in November 2006 after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 while meeting two Russian men - one a former KGB officer - at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square.

His family believes he was working for MI6 at the time and was killed on the orders of the Kremlin.

Alexander Litvinenko inquiry: six things we’ve learned so far
The inquiry into the killing of the Russian spy, held at the high court, has heard some extraordinary testimony
Marina Litvinenko outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London this week
Marina Litvinenko outside the high court in London. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
Luke Harding
Friday 30 January 2015 08.20 EST

1 The men allegedly sent to kill Alexander Litvinenko were clueless assassins
There are two theories to explain why polonium was used to kill Litvinenko. The first says the Kremlin meant to send a demonstrative message. The message was for Boris Berezovsky, Litvinenko’s friend and President Vladimir Putin’s enemy.

Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun speaking during an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio in Moscow in 2006. Photograph: Reuters
It said: wherever you are, we can get you. The polonium was a sort of lethal calling card (Polonium-210 is rare, expensive, and practically impossible to obtain – unless, of course, you own a nuclear reactor).

The second theory says that the polonium wasn’t meant to be discovered. Litvinenko would die in agony, but nobody would know why. The evidence laid out by this week’s public inquiry suggests the second theory is more plausible: whoever allegedly dispatched Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun to London assumed they’d never be caught. The two Russians knew their mission was to kill Litvinenko, according to this narrative, but seemingly had no idea what sort of poison they were carrying, or the fact it was highly radioactive.

This week the counsel to the inquiry, Robin Tam QC, painted a picture of two bungling assassins, who tried to murder Litvinenko not once but twice. Lugovoi and Kovtun first tried to poison Litvinenko on 16 October 2006, during a meeting at the private security company Erinys in Grosvenor Square, central London, he claimed. It’s not entirely clear what happened. But it looks as if a jug or glass containing polonium spilled all over the table. Nuclear experts later found huge amounts of contamination on a small area of the green baize tablecloth.

On that occasion Litvinenko was exposed to a tiny dose; he threw up that evening but survived.

The assassins allegedly tried again on 1 November. The three men met in the Pine bar of the Millennium hotel. Lugovoi had put the polonium in a teapot, the inquiry heard. Litvinenko sipped some of the tea “three or four times”. The tea was cold – he told police he didn’t like it. The dose he ingested was “far in excess of known survivability limits”. Later that evening, Litvinenko was vomiting again, the radiation was spreading through his body. He was dying.

Metropolitan Police’s 3D graphic showing polonium contamination on the green baize tablecloth in Grosvenor Square Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Metropolitan Police’s 3D graphic showing polonium contamination on the green baize tablecloth in Grosvenor Square
2 The most extraordinary piece of new evidence involves a German waiter
Lugovoi and Kovtun have consistently denied they had anything to do with Litvinenko’s death.

But on Tuesday, Tam claimed a sensational piece of new evidence. Between 1996 and 2001 Kovtun lived in Germany, and worked as a waiter in an Italian restaurant in Hamburg. There, in the city’s picturesque habour overlooking the Elbe, Kovtun got friendly with another waiter – identified only as D2. He would see D2 whenever he went back to Germany.

On 28 October 2006, Kovtun flew to Hamburg from Moscow. This time he took polonium with him, Tam claimed. Kovtun stayed with his German ex-wife, and on the evening of 30 October met D2 in a restaurant. During a walk afterwards in a Hamburg amusement arcade, Kovtun confessed he was travelling to London to kill someone, the inquiry heard.

Two policeman carry a cardboard box, secured with tape marked radioactive from an apartment building in Hamburg-Ottensen Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Two police officers carry a cardboard box, secured with tape marked radioactive from an apartment building in Hamburg-Ottensen. Photograph: Bodo Marks/Reuters
Tam said Kovtun described Litvinenko as “a traitor with blood on his hands who did deals with Chechnya”. Kovtun then asked D2 an extraordinary question: did he know a cook in London? Kovtun said he had “a very expensive poison and that he needed the cook to put the poison in Mr Litvinenko’s food and drink”. D2 thought his friend was “talking rubbish”. But he did know a cook who had worked with both of them at Il Porto, their Hamburg restaurant. He indirectly passed Kovtun the cook’s number, the court heard.

Early on 1 November, Kovtun flew from Hamburg to Gatwick; at 11.30am he used Lugovoi’s mobile to call the cook. The cook (identified only as C2) said he was busy and would ring back, said Tam. Four hours later, Lugovoi and Kovtun are said to have come up with another hastily improvised plan, allegedly slipping polonium into Litvinenko’s pot of tea. Litvinenko, meanwhile formed a dim view of Kovtun, whom he hardly knew. He described him as a “very unpleasant type”, telling police: “I think he’s either an alcoholic or a drug addict.” He quoted Kovtun as saying that his ex-wife came from a wealthy German family, with Kovtun adding: “I am interested in money and money alone in this life. Nothing else.”

3 The Metropolitan police have done an impressive job
A British police officer blocks traffic as a police van takes up a position outside the Millennium hotel in Grosvenor Square in London Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
An officer blocks traffic as a police van takes up a position outside the Millennium hotel in Grosvenor Square in London. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images
The Met has been the focus of much public criticism but its investigation into Litvinenko’s murder was painstaking and exemplary. Around 100 detectives were involved, together with 100 uniformed officers.

To begin with they had little to go on – a dying Russian who spoke poor English; a baffling plot involving visitors from Moscow; and a swirl of disparate crime scenes. Two detectives, Brent Hyatt and Chris Hoar, from the Met’s specialist crime unit, interviewed Litvinenko in his intensive care bed.

The transcript of their conversations (pdf), revealed this week, shows the pair gradually piecing together the clues. Litvinenko went under the name of Edwin Redwald Carter. The officers addressed him rather quaintly as Edwin.

The inquiry transcript
The inquiry transcript. Click here to read
They asked whether he had received death threats. And whom did he meet before falling ill. Litvinenko told them, yes, that within months of escaping to Britain in 2000 the ominous threats began.

In May 2001, he got a call from a former colleague, Major Andrei Porkin. Porkin was a subordinate of Litvinenko’s in Russia’s FSB spy agency. He allegedly told Litvinenko bluntly that if he failed to return to Russia “you will either be brought back in a body bag, or pushed in front of a train”.

In London, spies based at the Russian embassy followed him; in 2003 one of them, Victor Kirov, tried to barge into Litvinenko’s home in Muswell Hill, north London (Kirov later warned him to stop criticising Putin). Litvinenko gives a vivid account of his meetings with Lugovoi and Kovtun. He describes drinking tea in the Millennium hotel bar. The teapot was already on the table; Lugovoi asked the waiter to bring Litvinenko a clean cup; Lugovoi didn’t drink anything himself.

Litvinenko had a sharp eye for detail: Lugovoi was wearing a flashy Swiss gold watch, worth $50,000 (£33,000), and cardigan bought in Harrods. The police interviews took place on 19 and 20 November 2006, at UCL hospital; by 23 November, Litivenko was dead. They are a kind of unique witness statement taken from a ghost – a ghost who explictly blames Putin for his murder.

4 The Met has a crack 3D modelling team
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The murder of Litvinenko was an unprecedented event. It was the first ever case of poisoning in the UK involving alpha radiation, rarer than gamma radiation, and much harder to detect. In the weeks that followed, the inquiry heard, the police found a trail of polonium left by Lugovoi and Kovtun across London.

Detectives visited the pair’s hotel rooms, the Pine bar, the Erinys boardroom. They tracked down a Mercedes car used by Lugovoi. Everywhere they found polonium. This aspect of the police investigation was called Operation Avocet. Nuclear forensic experts took a series of alpha radiation readings. Next the Met’s computer-aided modelling bureau produced striking 3D images and models of the key crime scenes. These graphics were colour-coded green, yellow, red and purple; purple represented the highest level of contamination, showing levels of 10,000 radiation counts per second and above. Litvinenko’s teapot, for example, has a lurid purple spout and a large purple section in the middle.

The room where Lugovoi stayed in the Sheraton hotel, room 848, yielded some extraordinary readings (Lugovoi checked in there during his second of three trips to London, between 25-28 October, 2006). High levels of alpha radiation were discovered on the wall, floor and toilet seat of the room’s bathroom; and on the telephone book. But the readings from the bin in the bathroom were off the scale; the bin is purple.

It looks as if Lugovoi may have thrown one large dose of polonium in the bin. Why? We don’t know. The Met also pieced together thousands of records of calls made by all of the main players in the case between June and November 2006. These call logs confirm Litvinenko’s contacts with Lugovoi, who on one occasion together with his wife visited Litvinenko’s London home.

5 British spies use Waterstones book store as a meeting place
Not much is known about Litvinenko’s secret role working for British intelligence. Litvinenko wasn’t a double agent: he had no contact with MI6 while he was in Russia. The British special intelligence service recruited him as an informant in 2003, two years after he fled to London.

MI6 put Litvinenko on its payroll, gave him an encrypted phone and assigned him a minder, “Martin”. In return, Litvinenko passed on useful information about senior Kremlin figures and their links with Russian organised crime. He knew about Russian mafia activities in Spain, his specialism as an FSB officer. MI6 introduced him to the Spanish intelligence service and in 2006 he travelled to Madrid.

Owen has said that he won’t examine whether MI6 could have done more to protect their source. Nor will the government make public its own secret files on the case, including MI6’s assessment of whether Litvinenko may have been at risk. Owen can review this secret evidence and use it in his findings.

Buried in this week’s transcripts, however, are a couple of tantalising details. The day before he was poisoned – 31 October – Litvinenko met Martin. The venue was the basement cafe of Waterstones book shop in Piccadilly Circus, the time 4pm. The two arranged the rendezvous by phone. Martin ordered coffee, while Litivinenko drank hot chocolate. The Russian also ate three small French pastries. We don’t know what they talked about. Litvinenko last spoke to his handler on 19 November, in the presence of police, while critically ill in his hospital bed. Their conversation hasn’t been released. Did Martin realise the danger Litvinenko was in? Should he have done? The government won’t tell us.

Ben Emmerson QC Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Ben Emmerson QC Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
6 Ben Emmerson QC has annoyed Vladimir Putin
Ben Emmerson, the lawyer acting for Litvinenko’s widow, Marina (pictured left), is a wordsmith. In his opening remarks to the public inquiry, he described Putin as a “common criminal dressed up as a head of state”. He suggested Litvinenko may have been murdered for exposing links between Putin and Russia’s biggest organised crime syndicate, which is active in Spain. Emmerson further alleged that under Putin Russia had become “a mafia state”.

Back in Moscow, Lugovoi has dismissed the inquiry as a “judicial farce”. Kremlin officials haven’t reacted formally yet but when they do, are likely to paint the court hearings as western propaganda. In public, officials are insouciant. In private, Emmerson’s remarks appear to have touched a nerve. On Wednesday, the day after Emmerson’s speech, Moscow sent a pair of Tupolev-95 “bear” bombers over the Channel. RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled to intercept them as they flew along the south coast. The Russian bombers had their transponders turned off, a provocative move that poses a danger to civilian flights. On Thursday the Foreign Office summoned Russia’s ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, to complain.

The public inquiry will last 10 weeks. There may be further drama to come.

Luke Harding is the author of Mafia State: How One Reporter Became an Enemy of the Brutal New Russia, published by Guardian Faber

Metropolitan police’s 3D graphic showing polonium contamination in the teapot. From green (low) to purple (high) Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Metropolitan Police’s 3D graphic showing polonium contamination in the teapot. From green (low) to purple (high)


Metropolitan police's 3D graphic showing polonium contamination of the table and chair Facebook Twitter Pinterest expand
Metropolitan Police’s 3D graphic showing polonium contamination of the table and chair
Alexander Litvinenko Russia Europe

Putin had underworld connections when he worked in 'the criminal capital of Russia' says widow of poisoned spy Litvinenko
Marina Litvinenko is giving evidence to inquiry into husband's death today
Says she hasn't spoken to father-in-law Walter since he went on Russian TV to denounce his son two years ago
Alexander Litvinenko allegedly worked for MI6 after fleeing home country
Fell out with Vladimir Putin over bid to assassinate Boris Berezovsky
Litvinenko claimed Putin was involved in 'criminal conduct' and predicted he would be killed after exposing the plot
Arrived in UK saying 'I'm a KGB officer and I'm asking for political asylum'
He died in November 2006 after drinking tea poisoned with polonium
Thousands of Londoners were in danger from radiation, inquiry was told
By ARTHUR MARTIN and HUGO GYE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 07:52 EST, 2 February 2015 | UPDATED: 11:22 EST, 2 February 2015


The widow of poisoned spy Alexander Litvinenko today accused Vladimir Putin of being linked to criminal groups in his home city of St Petersburg.
Marina Litvinenko told a public inquiry that her husband, known as Sasha, looked down on the future president of Russia when he became head of the country's secret service.
She added: 'On his position of deputy mayor of St Petersburg, Sasha believed he was involved in some criminal conduct'.
Mrs Litvinenko said she did not know the details of Mr Putin's alleged criminal connections, but at that time St Petersburg was known as 'the criminal capital of Russia'.

Accusation: The spy's widow Marina, left, said that Russian president Vladimir Putin, right, was involved in criminality while he was deputy mayor of St Petersburg
The inquiry also heard that Mr Litvinenko's father Walter went on Russian TV two years ago and called his son a 'big traitor' for working for MI6, leading to Mrs Litvinenko cutting all ties with her father-in-law.
The 52-year-old widow said: 'Two years ago he said that he didn't know that Sasha worked for MI6 and because of this he thinks he is a big traitor. And everything he said before was wrong.'
Giving evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Mrs Litvinenko added that she had not spoken to her father-in-law since his televised outburst.

Mr Litvinenko died aged 43 in November 2006, three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium while meeting two Russian men at the Millennium Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square.
Last week, the long-awaited public inquiry into his death heard that thousands of Londoners were exposed to the risk of radiation poisoning, while Mrs Litvinenko's lawyer accused 'common criminal' Mr Putin of being responsible for his murder.
Former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun have been identified as the prime suspects in the killing, but both deny any involvement and remain in Russia.
Litvinenko's widow: Public inquiry 'very important to me'

Speaking with an interpreter by her side today, Mrs Litvinenko described how her husband was a loyal member of the Russian secret service, the FSB, before he became disillusioned with the regime.
She added that he was ordered to kill tycoon Boris Berezovsky, but instead befriended the businessman and tipped him off about the threat to his life.

Mr Berezovsky had made enemies with senior security figures after becoming one of Russia's most prominent figures in both business and politics during the 1990s.
In 1994 he escaped an assassination attempt after a car blew up outside his office, killing his bodyguard.
The same year he was implicated in the murder of a popular television anchor, but Mr Litvinenko apparently intervened and prevented him being arrested.
'They could say he had a heart attack and then make it easier to blame Boris Berezovsky for this crime,' Mrs Litvinenko said. 'After that Boris Berezovsky said many times that Sasha had saved his life and he was very grateful.'
Mrs Litvinenko said that her husband was asked by a senior FSB officer in December 1997 if he could kill the businessman, who had angered the army and security services by helping to negotiate an end to the First Chechen War.
'Sasha decided to talk about this with Berezovsky, because he was a very high profile figure,' Mrs Litvinenko told the hearing.
'I believe it was a question: "Could you, for example, kill Berezovsky?" Sasha was worried what the [anti-terrorism] unit might then be asked to do. After a few months he decided to tell this to Berezovsky.'
Mr Litvinenko also refused commands to confiscate the ID documents of another FSB officer, and to kidnap a Chechen businessman, the inquiry was told.
Several members of his FSB unit were suspended after complaining about the plot to kill Mr Berezovsky and accusing senior officers of corruption, Mrs Litvinenko said.
Mr Litvinenko went to see Mr Putin in 1998, shortly after the future president had been appointed as head of the FSB.

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Dissident: Mr Litvinenko, left, turned against the Russian secret service which employed him after bosses ordered him to kill Boris Berezovsky, right
But the meeting was 'unproductive,' according to Mrs Litvinenko, who explained: 'This meeting was arranged by Berezovsky and Sasha, who was suspended, to discuss corruption in the FSB.
'The idea was that this meeting with a new director would make a change to the situation.
'Sasha said it was not a productive meeting, and he believed there was not a chance of change. He didn't believe that Putin could make any change in his position as director.
Could you, for example, kill Berezovsky?
FSB officer to Alexander Litvinenko
'Sasha didn't believe in Putin's professional skills. He told me that from the very beginning when he was director he had never been on the ground.
'Putin had finished university and spent a lot of time in the German Democratic Republic and didn't really understand his job - like Sasha did from fighting against organised crime.'
Mr Litvinenko was later jailed after holding a press conference to denounce Mr Putin and fled from Russia in 2000, settling in London where he became one of the president's most outspoken critics.
His widow said today that he had predicted that 'they will kill him or he will be arrested' after the televised conference.
His friend Mr Berezovsky also moved to the UK, but after he was left penniless following a legal battle with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich he was found dead in an apparent suicide at his Berkshire mansion two years ago.
Suspects: Dmitri Kovtun, left, and Andrei Lugovoi, right, have been accused of murdering the Russian spy
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Suspects: Dmitri Kovtun, left, and Andrei Lugovoi, right, have been accused of murdering the Russian spy
LITVINENKO MET HIS WIFE MARINA WHEN HE WAS ALREADY MARRIED
Marina Litvinenko met her future husband Alexander in June 1993 - when he was still married to his first wife.
She told the inquiry that she found the policeman 'very friendly', and they wed the next year after he split from his wife following a string of rows.
Mrs Litvinenko described how she was trained as an engineer but became a professional dancer and married her dance partner.
She first met Alexander after her marriage fell apart, and asked him to help with a contract dispute she was involved in.
'At the time he was not single, he was married,' she told the inquiry. 'He introduced himself as a married man who had two children and he said, "My children are the most important thing to me."'
When Mr Litvinenko began spending increasing amounts of time on the case it led to tensions between him and his wife, and before long they separated.
'After that we got closer,' Mrs Litvenenko said today. The couple were married in October 1994.
Mr Litvineko is said to have worked with both MI6 and the Spanish secret service, passing them information about alleged links between Mr Putin and Russian criminal gangs.
His widow and supporters have accused the Russian government of being responsible for his death - last week Mrs Litvinenko's lawyer described Mr Putin as presiding over a 'mafia state'.
The inquiry was also told that the post-mortem examination on Mr Litvinenko was 'one of the most dangerous ever undertaken in the western world'.
Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary said Mr Litvinenko's radioactive body was 'very hazardous' and had to be transferred to a secure site for tests.
The public inquiry opened more than six years after his death, following a sustained campaign by Mrs Litvinenko.
The inquiry panel, chaired by Sir Robert Owen, will be able to consider secret evidence, but it will not be disclosed to the lawyers or witnesses.
Lugovoi and Kovtun have refused to give evidence to the inquiry - Lugovoi, now a Russian MP, claims that the whole procedure is politically motivated.
The hearing continues.
'I'm a KGB officer and I want asylum': How spy fled across Europe and sought refuge in the UK
Alexander Litvinenko landed at Heathrow airport and told a police officer: ‘I’m a KGB officer and I’m asking for political asylum’, the inquiry heard.
The agent arrived in Britain with his wife and son after fleeing across Europe on fake documents to escape Russian spies who were following them, it was said.
His widow Marina told the public inquiry into her husband’s death how they fled in 2000 after Russian agents threatened to kill her and their son Anatoly.
Refugees: The Litvinenkos and their son Anatoly, now 20, travelled across Europe to reach Britain in 2000
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Refugees: The Litvinenkos and their son Anatoly, now 20, travelled across Europe to reach Britain in 2000
Litvinenko, known as Sasha, became a ‘marked man’ in Russia after he held a press conference in 1998 claiming that the Kremlin had plotted to kill oligarch Boris Berezovsky.
Fearing for his life, he sent his wife and son to Spain while he slipped out of Russia through Georgia on a fake passport.
He then met his family in Turkey, but every day they had to move to a different town or city because they thought Russian agents were on their tail, the court heard.
They tried to claim asylum in at the American embassy in Turkey. When they were refused, they boarded a plane to London where they were granted political asylum.

Mrs Litvinenko said: ‘Sasha said if [the Russians] arrested me I would never be able to leave prison. They would kill me.
‘It means I had to decide if I want to save my family or if I was to make my own way back to Russia.
‘My life and the life of my son was in danger. He said: “They will put you in prison and I will not be able to protect you”.
He flew an English flag from the balcony during the football World Cup
Alexander Litvinenko's widow Marina
‘Sasha was told that me and our son Anatoly might be killed or [held] responsible for what he did.’
Mrs Litvinenko told the Royal Courts of Justice how they were always worried about their safety while in Turkey because they thought the Turkish authorities were tipping off the Kremlin.
When asked about their arrival in London, she said: ‘Sasha went to the first police officer and said: “I’m a KGB officer and I’m asking for political asylum.”’
In 2006, Mr and Mrs Litvinenko and their son Anatoly were granted British citizenship, the inquiry heard.
'He was very proud to be British, he did kept an English flag on his balcony during the football World Cup in 2006 and he was very proud for his son to be British and having his future in England,' she said.
The hearing was told that Boris Berezovsky paid for the family's home in north London, as well as school fees for Anatoly, who was a pupil at City of London School and is now studying at University College London.

Alexander Litvinenko murder suspect to cooperate with public inquiry
Dmitry Kovtun, who is accused of importing the polonium allegedly slipped into Litvinenko’s tea in London, is to give evidence from Moscow next month

Dmitry Kovtun has acknowledged meeting Alexander Litvinenko in London but denies any involvement in his death. Photograph: Alexander
Monday 15 June 2015 13.59 EDT Last modified on Monday 15 June 2015 19.40 EDT

One of the two men accused of murdering Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian spy who died of radiation poisoning in London in 2006, is set to give evidence next month to the public inquiry into the dissident’s death after agreeing to cooperate with the process. Dmitry Kovtun, who is accused of importing the polonium-210 allegedly slipped into Litvinenko’s tea at a Mayfair hotel, has been given core participant status at the inquiry, a statement from its chairman, Sir Robert Owen, said.

In an unexpected move in March, Kovtun wrote to the inquiry offering to give video evidence from Moscow. Both Kovtun and his fellow accused, Andrei Lugovoi, now an ultra-nationalist politician, had previously said they would boycott the process set up by the home secretary, Theresa May. Both deny any wrongdoing. Lugovoi has stated that he will maintain the right to avoid self-incrimination when answering questions or providing documents, the inquiry statement added.

Owen, a high court judge, subsequently ruled that Kovtun would be allowed to participate if he provided a detailed witness statement by 22 May, disclosed material that he has previously said in interviews would exonerate himself and Lugovoi, and confirmed that he would cooperate in giving evidence.

“Sir Robert is satisfied that Mr Kovtun has complied in full with his directions dated 2 April 2015,” it said. Kovtun has promised to give evidence from Moscow on a date to be determined by the inquiry, most likely towards the end of next month.

Direct evidence from a man repeatedly and strongly linked with the murder is likely to prove among the more dramatic moments of a process already rich in grisly detail. The inquiry has already heard that Litvinenko himself believed that Vladimir Putin personally authorised his murder, as he told police from his hospital bed where he lay dying from radiation poisoning. Kovtun and Lugovoi, both former KGB agents, are accused of killing Litvinenko by putting polonium in his green tea during a meeting with him on 1 November 2006 at the Millennium hotel in central London.

Ben Emmerson QC, acting for Litvinenko’s widow Marina told the inquiry it was beyond any reasonable doubt that the men were the murderers. The Crown Prosecution Service has charged them both with murder and issued an international arrest warrant. Putin has refused to extradite them.

Kovtun, the inquiry was told, flew to Hamburg days before the meeting with Litvinenko, seemingly to collect the poison. German detectives found traces of radiation in his former wife’s home, where he stayed, including on a teddy bear belonging to one of her children. Other evidence came via a former colleague in a Hamburg restaurant who said Kovtun talked about seeking a cook in London who could put “very expensive poison” he was carrying into food or drink. High readings of polonium were also found in Kovtun’s bedroom at the Millennium hotel.

The hearing has already heard written evidence from an interview with Kovtun in Moscow in December 2006, in which he acknowledged meeting Litvinenko but denied any involvement in his death. The inquiry continues.

Interview With Marina Litvinenko, Widow of Poisoned Ex-FSB Operative and Putin Critic Alexander Litvinenko
Posted: 06/15/2015 5:11 pm EDT Updated: 06/15/2015 5:59 pm EDT

Marina Litvinenko is the widow of Russian FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who fled Russia for the United Kingdom in 2000. Alexander Litvinenko was murdered by radioactivity poisoning in London in 2006; and since then, Marina Litvinenko has become an activist who has pushed for several inquiries into the events leading to his death. She established the Litvinenko Justice Foundation in 2007, which was funded initially by Boris Berezovsky. Despite numerous setbacks in the judicial process, a public inquiry into her husband's death began on January 27, 2015. Marina Litvinenko agreed to sit down for an interview with me following her speech at the University of Oxford on May 27, 2015. The transcript of that interview is below:

Your husband Alexander Litvinenko, was a staunch critic of the Putin regime, even though he had worked in the KGB during the Soviet era and in the FSB under Yeltsin. Did he openly express dissent or dissatisfaction with the Russian political system prior to Putin's rise to power or did he largely avoid criticizing the abuses of power that occurred under Soviet rule and under Yeltsin?

Marina Litvinenko: First of all, I would like to emphasize that Sasha was not a dissident. When he was in Russia and working for the FSB, he did his job. He was firmly committed to cracking down on organized crime and retained faith in the Russian political system. However, Sasha's perspectives changed a bit once he began to work in the headquarters of the KGB after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The KGB underwent several name changes during this time before it became FSB. But even throughout this time, he focused on the investigation of crime and did not want to be a dissident who sought to change Russia at the political level.

After 1993 and the 1994 start of the Chechen war, his job became increasingly politicized. First of all, some politicians became very corrupt and linked to organized crime. And investigations could not be finished as politicians blocked fair conclusions, which caused Sasha to be frustrated with his job. But yet he was still not very critical during the Yeltsin period, and he was renowned for being very good at his job.

You mentioned that Litvinenko was not a dissident or open critic of the Russian system prior to Putin's rise to power. What changed his perspective once Vladimir Putin became FSB leader? And does Putin's ascension to the presidency solely explain the timing of his decision to flee Russia?

Marina Litvinenko: In 1998, Vladimir Putin became the head of the FSB. Sasha after one meeting with Putin realized that Putin was taking the FSB back to the repression of the Soviet KGB. Putin wanted the FSB to control everything. Sasha believed that Putin was unwilling to change the FSB and he was convinced that he had been involved in criminal activity in St. Petersburg prior to his rise to power within the FSB. In an attempt to marginalize Litvinenko, he was arrested and accused of abuses of power while working for the FSB, and despite an acquittal, more charges kept coming to him, which made it inevitable that he would have to flee Russia.

But I would like to emphasize that even when Putin took charge, Sasha wanted open discussion but refrained from criticism in a dissident kind of way. He was an innocent person; he did not commit any crimes against the Russian state. When he realized Putin would imprison him and he would not be able to save us, he decided to escape from Russia. He did not try to save himself but he tried to save us. It was only when we arrived safely in England, that he started engaging in open dissent and to criticize the political situation in Russia and urge people he knew within the FSB to fire the corrupt in Russia.

Boris Berezovsky was a crucial patron and ally for your husband. How did Alexander Litvinenko first become connected with Boris Berezovsky?

Marina Litvinenko: Sasha first became connected with Boris Berezovsky in 1994, which was the time of the first assassination attempt against him. Berezovsky's car was bombed and his driver was killed, but Berezovsky survived. Sasha was in the investigation team who tried to find the perpetrators of the crime. Sasha was very good at socializing with people and he was very good to Berezovsky. The FSB took advantage of this connection to try to use Sasha to control Berezovsky. Sasha still met with Berezovsky frequently, and every time, he met, he would provide documentation for the agent-to-agent relationship. Sasha became intrigued by Berezovsky's attempts to promote political change and create a new Russia. When Berezovsky created a new television station, the largest in Russia, it was very interesting for Sasha as well, and this helped consolidate the relationship.

You said that the FSB used Alexander Litvinenko to control Berezovsky. How did Litvinenko manage to maintain his friendship with Berezovsky while still remaining a loyal servant of the FSB? When did Litvinenko's and Berezovsky's political interests start to converge more closely?

Marina Litvinenko: One time Sasha went to Switzerland on a business trip from the FSB, and he received a diplomatic passport. Clearly Berezovsky could not offer him a diplomatic passport, it was because the FSB sent him to Switzerland to be close to Berezovsky and keep surveillance on his actions. What the FSB did not realize was that Sasha's relationship with Berezovsky had blossomed into a friendship. The general manager of Berezovsky's TV channel was murdered. It became a very infamous killing; everybody loved him and he was a very well known TV presenter. The public was shocked and an investigation began that caused the FSB to link Berezovsky immediately to the crime. Evidence was created linking Berezovsky but it looked clearly like a false order, and Sasha protected Berezovsky from these allegations and further assassination attempts, which began again in 1995. Berezovsky was always grateful to Sasha for saving his life; when he prevented security service officers from removing Berezovsky from his office as part of a plan to blame the murder of the radio station host on him. Sasha protected Berezovsky not because he was working for him, his loyalties were still with the FSB, but he acted because he believed the FSB was not doing the right thing. After this, Berezovsky and Sasha's relationship became closer. Berezovsky was a very rich man and he was also in a powerful position politically.

When Sasha became increasingly critical of the criminality within the FSB, he got support from Berezovsky because Berezovsky believed that the developments in Russia were very dangerous. Eventually, as his dissent became more vocal, Berezovsky used the power of his TV channel to support him. When Putin took power, he reversed many of the democratic measures Yeltsin had tried to implement and subverted free expression and the electoral system. Berezovsky and Sasha both opposed these measures strongly, strengthening their connection.

You have spoken previously about Putin and the FSB's attempts to assassinate Boris Berezovsky. Were those assassination attempts decisive in causing Litvinenko to become a scathing critic of the FSB?

Marina Litvinenko: In 1997, when he faced pressure to kill Boris Berezovsky, it became obvious that the FSB had become an organization that killed people, used them, almost like a kind of Mafia. Litvinenko told Berezvosky about the assassination plot and an internal investigation within the FSB was launched, which ended up not being credible. At that time, Sasha felt it would be a good idea to talk openly about the Berezovsky murder attempt, as he believed the FSB was capable of change and not completely under the control of Mafia elements. This was reasonable as the FSB was also led by a coterie of Yeltsin-aligned officials. Some of these leaders wanted the organization to take on a different character from the Soviet KGB.

Boris Berezovsky died in mysterious circumstances in 2013. What was your opinion on his death- murder or suicide?

Marina Litvinenko: I find it difficult to believe that Berezovsky committed suicide. Berezovsky had many enemies, strong views and a long history of assassination attempts against him. The last time I spoke to him before his death, he seemed to be recovering and more positive. I can't tell you for sure, but I have doubts about the official suicide narrative.

Litvinenko compiled a vast array of information that painted the Russian government in a very negative light, including details about the Moscow apartment bombings. How did Litvinenko compile this information once he was exiled to the United Kingdom?

Marina Litvinenko: Sasha had many sources. And eventually, one of his sources, Mikhail Trepashkin, was arrested in Moscow. He had a very strong connection with this source and there was a very strong personal relationship between the two of them. The FSB wanted Sasha to do bad things against Trepashkin. But eventually him and Trepashkin became friends, and Sasha came to England, and started to work on his book. Trepashkin then provided him with links to more information. Sasha was able to leak more and more information now. Sasha did not come up with information in the files from his imagination; it was more difficult for him to get concrete evidence in London than it was in Moscow. But every time, he tried to find real information. His communication skills and former experience allowed him to do what he did.

Alexander Litvinenko worked for or in cooperation with MI6, after he sought refuge to the United Kingdom. How extensive was his connection with MI6 and British intelligence in general?

Marina Litvinenko: When Sasha fled Russia for the UK, he revealed details to the British government about his qualifications and past experience working in the FSB, in particular his work in combatting organized crime in government and to national security. All the details were recorded in the Litvinenko files. In 2002 or 2003, Sasha was contacted by MI6 to use his experience in combatting organized crime and he accepted their request. Sasha helped the MI6 target organized crime in Europe that had linkages to Russia; he was never an agent just a consultant. Sasha also worked for the Spanish security services as well and travelled to Spain to carry out similar kinds of work.

Britain has vacillated between limited rapproachment and hardline opposition to the Putin regime in recent years. How responsive has the Briitsh government been to your initial attempts to find justice for Alexander Litvinenko?

Marina Litvinenko: I think I got a great deal of support from the British government and Tony Blair immediately after his death in 2006. Sasha was a British citizen; I think those who committed the crime underestimated the extent to which Sasha's murder would be viewed as the killing of a British national on British soil. Russia strongly resisted pressure from the British government; before Gordon Brown announced his support for the extradition of Lugovoi, they probably carried out harassment in the British Council and in British Petroleum in Moscow. While I love Russia, I am happy that Brown pushed for the extradition of Lugovoi and refused to meet Putin. I do not equate Russia with Putin. I was disappointed with David Cameron's decision to meet with Putin and engage him diplomatically, but in the initial aftermath of his death, I think Blair and the British government gave our case substantial support.

Finally, why do you think that the perpetrators of the Litvinenko murder used radioactive polonium to kill him? Do you think it was primarily for practical reasons or could it have been utilized for a deterrent effect?

Marina Litvinenko: First of all, radioactive material was only discovered after Sasha died. If we had not found it, we would not know what had happened. He became severely ill after meeting several Russian men in London; and without the discovery of radioactivity, his death would have been totally mysterious. I believe that they used radioactivity and polonium because they thought it would never be discovered. It would be the perfect murder, Sasha would die and it would be an unexplained death. The perpetrators of his murder would blame Boris Berezovsky, who was an enemy of Putin, and someone that Putin had tried to assassinate many times before, even though he was also living in the UK. Many people have said radioactivity was used to frighten people, it was to create a hysteria surrounding nuclear terrorism on the streets of London, but I think it was caused primarily by the perpetrators' desire to cover up the crime.

'Through Sherlock's Eyes': New Litvinenko Film Hopes to 'Clear the Air'
15:31 11.09.2015
A new documentary exploring the death of Alexander Litvinenko has been screened at the Russian Embassy in London.

According to director and producer, Alexander Korobko, the film, titled 'Through Sherlock's Eyes', touches on issues that are not "publicly discussed" and hopes it will help "clear the air".


"I just wanted to throw more light on the matter and explore the inconsistencies that we identified," Korobko said ahead of the screening at the Russian Embassy in Kensington, London.
When asked if he had a theory, Korobko said he thought Litvinenko was "careless".

"I think it was a sales operation that went wrong. Litvinenko was known to be careless, he'd play with his gun in his pocket… and they were not careful with this substance."

Alexander died from radioactive poisoning in November 2006, three weeks after drinking tea with two former colleagues, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun in London. He was found to have polonium-210 in his system.
A public inquiry into Litvinenko's death was formally established by the British government on July 31, 2014 and began on January 2015.

Kovtun and Lugovoy deny any involvement in his death.


A recent statement from the Russian embassy said that the inquiry began, following the deaths of a key witness in the investigation, David West, owner of Abracadabra restaurant in Mayfair. West is also featured in Korobko's documentary.

"The sad part, for me, is that West was killed last December and he would have testified," Korobko told Sputnik.

David West, died of a stab wound at his home in St James's on 12 December 2014. His son has been charged with his murder.

"This is the only film that has his testimony on tape — and it think that is crucial.

"This is a film that uniquely represents both sides, where people agree. It features British and American contributors — more than Russian ones… This is not the Russian government's point of view — this is an independent endeavor, involving many people, passionate about the subject."

The chairman of the inquiry investigating Litvinenko's death, Sir Robert Owen, said the report on the case of the death of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko will be completed by December 25.

Fraud whistleblower 'may have been murdered by Russian security services involved in killing of Alexander Litvinenko'
16:45, 21 SEP 2015
BY DAVID WILCOCK
Alexander Perepilichny, 44, collapsed and died in November 2012 and his death was originally attributed to natural causes


Claims: Secret service 'involved in Litvinenko case may be linked to this death'
The Russian state security service may have had a hand in the death of a fraud whistleblower in Britain three years ago, an inquest has heard.

Alexander Perepilichny, 44, died after collapsing while running near his Surrey home in November 2012.

His death was originally attributed to natural causes but traces of a chemical that can be found in the poisonous plant gelsemium elegans were later found in his stomach.

Read more: America accepts Russian offer for talks on Syrian conflict as world crisis escalates

Lawyers for financial firm Hermitage Capital Management, who previously claimed Perepilichny could have been deliberately killed for helping it uncover a multimillion-dollar fraud involving Russian officials, told a pre-inquest hearing today that the Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti or FSB internal security service may be involved.

As the hearing in Woking briefly discussed the scope of the inquiry and whether it should include UK deaths of other prominent Russians, Geoffrey Robertson QC, representing Hermitage, told Senior Surrey Coroner Richard Travers: "We will not be seeking to put forward any evidence that is irrelevant.

INSAn inquest was due to begin today into the death of wealthy Russian supergrass Alexander Perepilichnyy
"A Russian dies in Britain, that is not relevant.

"If that Russian dies by an obscure poison known only by the FSB, that is relevant.

"The FSB is the core element of Russian Government that was involved in the (Alexander) Litvinenko case and may well be involved in this case.

"It is a secret service that Hermitage has upset and (has) left itself open to reprisals."

He added: "At this stage there is very strong circumstantial evidence that he (Perepilichny) was murdered because of the assistance he was giving to Hermitage."

Mr Robertson also suggested delaying the inquest until after the public inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death by radioactive poisoning is completed.

Mr Perepilichny collapsed while running near his Weybridge home.

A previous pre-inquest hearing was told that before his death he was helping Hermitage uncover a £150million Russian money laundering operation.

INSDeath: Claims that poison was found in the stomach of Alexander PerepilichnyDeath: It has been claimed that poison was found in Alexander Perepilichny's stomach
Read more: Ukraine launches criminal case against Putin after he drinks 241-year-old wine worth £60k with Berlusconi
That hearing was told he could have been the victim of a "reprisal killing" in Britain linked to the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, whose 2009 death in a Russian prison prompted claims he was beaten and then denied medical treatment.

At the earlier hearing in Woking, Hermitage's lawyer Henrietta Hill QC claimed Perepilichny had been on an underworld "hit list" and had received death threats.

There was a "clear parallel" between his death and that of Magnitsky, who also worked for Hermitage and died in prison in 2009, she said.

However, Mr Perepilichny's family have said there is no evidence to suggest he was deliberately killed.

Ian Helme, representing his widow and children, said the inquest process was already "taking its toll" and a proposal to widen the scope was "of real concern" and that needed to be taken into account.

The pre-inquest hearing also heard that scientific tests to ascertain what was in Mr Perepilichny's stomach by a Kew Gardens specialist, ordered earlier this year, have yet to be completed.

Professor Monique Simmonds told the court delays caused by internal and external factors at Kew meant the tests would not be competed until the end of October.

Mr Travers said that the "proper time" to rule on the full scope of the inquest was after the test results were known and made no ruling today.

He said: "It is not a question of putting tough decisions off but we need a decision at the right time.

"The right time is once Professor Simmonds' final report has been received."

A further pre-inquest hearing will take place in November, with the full inquest likely to start in February at the earliest.

The former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was “probably” murdered on the personal orders of Vladimir Putin, the UK public inquiry into his death has found.

Litvinenko, who died in a London hospital in November 2006 from radioactive poisoning, was killed by two Russian agents, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, the inquiry said. There was a “strong probability” they were acting on behalf of the Russian FSB secret service, the report added.

Sir Robert Owen, the inquiry chair, said that taken as a whole the open evidence that had been heard in court amounted to a “strong circumstantial case” that the Russian state was behind the assassination.

But when he took into account all the evidence available to him, including a “considerable quantity” of secret intelligence that was not aired in open court, he found “that the FSB operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by [Nikolai] Patrushev [head of the security service in 2006] and also by President Putin”.

The Craziest Conspiracy Theory of Them All
The British government’s report on the death of Alexander Litvinenko reads like a bad thriller

by Justin Raimondo, January 22, 2016

To those of us who grew up during the cold war years, it’s just like old times again: Russian plots to subvert the West and poison our precious bodily fluids are apparently everywhere. Speaking of poisoning plots: the latest Russkie conspiracy – and the most imaginative by far – was the alleged assassination by poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko , a former agent of the Russian intelligence services who fled to the West to become a professional anti-Russian propagandist and conspiracy theorist with a talent for the improbable. According to his fantastic worldview, the many terrorist attacks that have occurred in Russia have all been committed by … Vladimir Putin. Aside from championing the Chechen Islamo-terrorists who actually committed these crimes, Litvinenko’s stock-in-trade was an elaborate conspiracy theory in which he regularly accused Putin of blowing up Russian apartment buildings and murdering schoolchildren and then diverting attention from his own nefarious plots by blaming those lovable Chechens. Not very believable – unless one is predisposed to believe anything, so long as it casts discredit on those satanic Russians.

The conspiracy theory promulgated by the British government – and now memorialized in this official report – surpasses anything the deceased fantasist might have come up with. According to the Brits, Litvinenko was poisoned on British soil whilst imbibing a cup of tea spiked with a massive dose of radioactive polonium-210 – and, since Russia is a prime source of this rare substance, and since the Russians were supposedly out to get Litvinenko, the FSB – successor to the KGB – is named as the “probable” culprit.

Looking at the report, one has to conclude that they don’t make propaganda the way they used to: the certitude of, say, a J. Edgar Hoover or a Robert Welch has given way to the tepid ambiguity of Lord Robert Owen, the author of this report, whose verdict of “probably” merely underscores the paucity of what passes for evidence in this case.

To begin with, if the Russians wanted to off Litvinenko, why would they poison him with a substance that left a radioactive trail traceable from Germany to Heathrow airport – and, in the process, contaminating scores of hotel rooms, offices, planes, restaurants, and homes? Why not just put a bullet through his head? It makes no sense.

But then conspiracy theories don’t have to make sense: they just have to take certain assumptions all the way to their implausible conclusions. If one starts with the premise that Putin and the Russians are a Satanic force capable of anything, and incompetent to boot, then it’s all perfectly “logical” – in the Bizarro World, at any rate.

The idea that Litvinenko was a dangerous opponent of the Russian government who had to be killed because he posed a credible threat to the existence of the regime is laughable: practically no one inside Russia knew anything about him, and as for his crackpot “truther” theories about how Putin was behind every terrorist attack ever carried out within Russia’s borders – to assert that they had any credence outside of the Western media echo chamber is a joke. So there was no real motive for the FSB to assassinate him, just as there is none for the FBI to go after David Ray Griffin.

The British report doesn’t bother presenting any real evidence: instead, we are given a detailed account of the lives of the alleged killers – Dmitri Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy – that reads like a Daily Mail article. Included in this compendium of character assassination and gossip is the testimony of one of Kovtun’s ex-wives that he “wanted to be a porno star.” That this factoid would find its way into an official report of the United Kingdom is extraordinary – but not, I fear, unexpected. Salaciousness has its place in contemporary fiction, particularly the pulp-thriller genre, of which this report is a prime (if pedestrian) example.

The rest of the report is a complicated account of every move Kovtun, Lugovoy, and Litvinenko made in the days leading up to Litvinenko’s poisoning. It neither compromises nor exonerates the accused: presumably it was included to give the report the appearance of substance. The meat of the matter – the real “evidence” – is hidden behind a veil of secrecy. Lord Owen’s inquiry was for the most part conducted in secret closed hearings, with testimony given by anonymous witnesses, and this is central to the “evidence” that is supposed to convict Kovtun, Lugovoy, and the Russian government. Lord Owen, explains it this way:

“Put very shortly, the closed evidence consists of evidence that is relevant to the Inquiry, but which has been assessed as being too sensitive to put into the public domain. The assessment that the material is sufficiently sensitive to warrant being treated as closed evidence in these proceedings has been made not by me, but by the Home Secretary. She has given effect to this decision by issuing a number of Restriction Notices, which is a procedure specified in section 19 of the Inquiries Act 2005. The Restriction Notices themselves, although not, of course, the sensitive documents appended to them, are public documents. They have been published on the Inquiry website and are also to be found at Appendix 7 to this Report.”

In other words, the “evidence” is not for us ordinary mortals to see. We just have to take His Lordship’s word for it that the Russian government embarked on an improbable assassination mission against a marginal figure that reads like something Ian Fleming might have written under a pseudonym.

Yes, you might say, but Litvinenko was poisoned. So who killed him?

As I pointed out here:

“Litvinenko was an employee of exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky – whose ill-gotten empire included a Russian syndicate of car-dealerships that had more than a nodding acquaintance with the Chechen Mafia – but was being slowly cut out of the money pipeline. Big-hearted Boris, who had initially put him on the payroll as anti-Putin propagandist, was evidently getting sick of him, and the out-of-work "dissident" was reportedly desperate for money. Litvinenko had several " business meetings " with Lugovoi in the months prior to his death, and, according to this report , he hatched a blackmail scheme targeting several well-known Russian tycoons and government officials.”

Indeed, Litvinenko, in the months before his death, had targeted several well-known members of the Russian Mafia with his blackmail scheme. That they would take umbrage at this is hardly shocking.

Furthermore, there are indications that Litvinenko was engaged in the smuggling of nuclear materials. That he wound up being contaminated by the goods he was peddling on the black market seems far more credible than the cock-and-bull story about a vast Russian plot originating in the Kremlin,. Apparently Lord Owen has never heard of Occam’s Razor.

MoA

January 21, 2016

Putin 'Probably Approved' Murder Of Baby Jesus

Thought you ought to know this.

Posted by b at 01:12 PM | Comments (59)