Russian ‘loses faith’ in UK justice over death

A former KGB agent suspected of murdering Alexander Litvinenko has told a press conference that he will no longer assist the UK-based inquest into the spy’s death.

Andrei Lugovoy, who is now a Russian politician, told a conference in Moscow hosted by Russian news agency Interfax that he could not receive “justice” in the UK.

Mr Litvinenko, 43, died in November 2006 after he was poisoned with polonium-210 while drinking tea at a London meeting – allegedly with Lugovoy, who denies all involvement.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While attempts to extradite Lugovoy to the UK have been rejected by the Russians, it was thought he might have provided video-link evidence to the inquest in London.

According to Interfax, Lugovoy said: “I have no hope to get justice in the UK. I finally lost faith in the possibility of an impartial investigation of the case in England.

“I have to say that I’m out of the coroner’s investigation and I will not participate in it.”

It has been claimed that Lugovoy and another former KGB agent, Dmitry Kovtun, poisoned Mr Litvinenko at the Millennium Hotel in London’s Grosvenor Square.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A previous hearing was told that Mr Litvinenko had been hired by MI6 for a number of years and was working with the Spanish secret service investigating the Russian mafia shortly before his death.

He was said to regularly meet with an MI6 handler, named only as Martin, in central London and was paid by both UK and Spanish secret services into a joint bank account he held with his wife.

Related topics: