Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko

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Litvinenko in the hospital

On November 1 2006, Alexander Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized. He died three weeks later, becoming the victim of a high profile nuclear crime and the first known victim of lethal polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome. The fact that Litvinenko's revelations about FSB misdeeds were followed by his poisoning — and his public accusations that the Russian government was behind his malady — resulted in worldwide media coverage.

British authorities are investigating his death and it was reported on December 1 that scientists at the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment had traced the source of the polonium to a nuclear power plant in Russia. On December 3, reports stated that Britain has demanded the right to speak to at least five Russians implicated in Litvinenko's death, and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that Moscow was willing to answer "concrete questions." Russian Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika said on Tuesday, December 5 that any Russian citizen who may be charged in the poisoning will be tried in Russia, not Britain. Moreover, Chaika stated that Russian prosecutors would present any questions to Russian citizens in the presence of the UK detectives.

Illness and poisoning

On November 1 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill. In interviews, he stated he met with two former KGB agents early on that day, Andrei Lugovoi, a former bodyguard of Russian ex-prime minister Yegor Gaidar (also reportedly poisoned in November 2006) and former chief of security for Russian TV channel ORT and Dmitri Kovtun, who, according to trace evidence, may have carried the Polonium-210 from Moscow to Hamburg and subsequently from Hamburg to London. Later, he had lunch at Itsu, a sushi restaurant on Piccadilly in London, with an Italian acquaintance, Mario Scaramella, to whom he reportedly made the allegations regarding Romano Prodi. Scaramella, attached to the Mitrokhin Commission investigating KGB penetration of Italian politics, claimed to have information on the death of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, a journalist who was killed at her Moscow apartment in October 2006. He passed Litvinenko papers supposedly concerning her fate. On November 20, it was reported that Scaramella had gone into hiding and was in fear for his life. Oleg Gordievsky, a long-time acquaintance of Litvinenko and another former KGB colonel who had defected to the UK, told the BBC he believed Litvinenko was poisoned at the flat of an old Russian friend, with whom he had had tea before going to the sushi restaurant. Gaidar himself was struck by a sudden unexplained illness on November 24.

Litvinenko's poisoning is now attributed to the radionuclide polonium-210 after the Health Protection Agency found significant amounts of this rare and toxic element in his body. The poisoning was widely covered in the British media beginning 18 November 2006, though it had been covered in other countries for several days before.

Thallium - initial hypothesis

Scotland Yard initially investigated claims that Litvinenko was poisoned with thallium. It was reported that early tests appeared to confirm the presence of the poison. Among the distinctive effects of thallium poisoning are hair loss and damage to peripheral nerves, and a photograph of Litvinenko in hospital, released to the media on his behalf, indeed showed his hair to have fallen out. Litvinenko attributed his initial survival to his cardiovascular fitness and swift medical treatment. It was later suggested a radioactive isotope of thallium might have been used to poison Litvinenko. Dr. Amit Nathwani, one of Litvinenko's physicians, said "His symptoms are slightly odd for thallium poisoning, and the chemical levels of thallium we were able to detect are not the kind of levels you'd see in toxicity." Litvinenko's condition deteriorated, and he was moved into intensive care on November 20. Hours before his death, three unidentified circular-shaped objects were found in his stomach via an X-ray scan. It is thought these objects were almost certainly shadows caused by the presence of Prussian blue, the treatment he had been given for thallium poisoning.

Subsequently it was reported that traces of thallium are commonly found with polonium: "A tiny amount of thallium, a common impurity in polonium and a poison in its own right, was also found (in Litvinenko's body fluids). Polonium is typically made by bombarding bismuth-209, a heavy metal similar to antimony, with neutrons to make bismuth-210, which rapidly decays into polonium-210. But bismuth can also decay into thallium-206 — which is why polonium might have traces of thallium as well." But ^{206Tl has a very short half life of minutes so it is unlikely that any would have been present by the time is was brought into the UK. It is more likely that stable lead would be found as an impurity in the polonium used.}

Polonium-210

Shortly after his death, the UK's Health Protection Agency HPA stated tests had established Litvinenko had significant amounts of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in his body. This was most likely inhaled or ingested, and traces of it were found at several London locations: in his Muswell Hill home, at the Millenium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, and at the sushi restaurant where he had met Scaramella on November 1, and where he regularly held meetings, including an October 16 meeting with two Russians. Traces were also found in a former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky's offices and his residence in Mayfair.

British and US government sources both said the use of ²¹⁰Po as a poison has never been documented before, and this was probably the first time a person has been tested for the presence of polonium-210 in his or her body. According to Maxim Shingarkin, an expert on radiation safety, the theory of Litvinenko's exposure to ²¹⁰Po at the sushi bar or at the hotel's restaurant is not viable, given the nature of ²¹⁰Po. If it is uncontained — mixed into food or a drink — ²¹⁰Po will quickly transform into its aerosol form, effectively contaminating an enclosed space. Had this been the case, the other customers and the staff of the sushi bar and the restaurant would be severely affected as well. Since all the locations where the presence of ²¹⁰Po was detected display only trace amounts, originating from Litvinenko himself, his initial exposure to the substance may have occurred elsewhere. Since this original assessment, however, a highly contaminated tea cup has been identified in the Pines Bar of the Millenium Hotel, and police are now convinced that the poison was in Litvinenko's tea cup.

The HPA is investigating the risk to people who had contact with Litvinenko and confirmed that, as a precautionary measure, some people had been referred to a specialist clinic for possible radiological exposure assessment. The HPA is also seeking to analyze impurities in the polonium that may act as a "fingerprint" to identify its source.

A good review of the technical issues associated with the polonium poisoning can be read on line.

Sources of polonium

See also: Polonium toxicity

The use of polonium in the poisoning has been seen as proof of involvement of a state actor, as more than microscopic amounts of polonium can only be produced in nuclear reactors. Most polonium produced in Russia, however, is distributed by western commercial distributors.

The effect on Litvinenko appears consistent with a dose of approximately 2 GBq (50 mCi) of ²¹⁰Po, 10 $\mu$g, 200 times the median lethal dose of around 238 $\mu$Ci or 50 ng in the case of ingestion (2 billion alpha particles produced per second, against 10 million for the median lethal dose). However a lower activity was estimated by a different worker.

Polonium-210 production

Most of the world's polonium-210 (²¹⁰Po) is produced in Russia in Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors. About 100 grams (450,000 Ci) are produced by Russia annually. According to a claim by Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state atomic energy agency, RosAtom, all of it goes to U.S. companies through a single authorized supplier.

Polonium-210 is a synthetic element that has a half-life of 138 days as it gradually transforms into lead. This means that after four months approximately half the polonium has been transformed, and it drops to about one eighth of its original potency a year after it was first produced. It is thus virtually impossible that the polonium came from a pre-1991 Soviet-era source, and it is unlikely to have been in storage for more than a year.

Commercial products

No credible nuclear authority has asserted that a commercial product is a likely source for the poisoning of Litvinenko. However, potentially lethal amounts of polonium are present in anti-static brushes sold to photographers. Many of the devices are available by mail order. General Electric markets a static eliminator module with 500 microcuries (20 MBq), roughly 2.5 times the lethal dose of Po-210 if 100%-ingested, for US$71. If these were used to collect the amount of polonium likely used in the poisoning—and one could devise a method of separating the polonium from its protective casing—it would take 100 modules for US$7100. That such a thing could be done is extremely difficult according to the manufacturers and would be highly dangerous to anyone attempting to so.

It is said the FSB had access to radioactive material in order to trace Russian mafia money. Polonium is apparently considered by some to be an ideal element to use for tracing money due to its minimal health effects outside the body, and for its relatively short half-life. However, clearly, ingested or absorbed polonium is potentially lethal, regardless of the delivery mechanism.

Reports now state that scientists of the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment have confirmed the polonium was manufactured and the source is likely to originate from a Russian nuclear reactor. This of course does not exclude the possibily that the polonium that killed Litvinenko was imported by a licensed commercial distributor, but no one—including the Russian government—has proposed that this is likely, particularly in regard to the radiation detected on the British Airways Moscow-London passenger jets.

Polonium-210 in passenger airplanes

On November 29 2006, British Airways announced that three of its passenger jets had been linked to the investigation of Litvinenko's death and two were found by British authorities to contain trace amounts of a radioactive substance. Flights cited as being of particular interest included flights BA875 and BA873 from Moscow to Heathrow on October 25 and October 31, as well as flights BA872 and BA874 from Heathrow to Moscow on October 28 and November 3. A further two aircraft in Russia are now being investigated.

British Airways published the 221 flights affected, involving around 33,000 passengers, and advised those potentially affected to contact the UK Department for Health helpline. Andrei Lugovoi has said he flew from London to Moscow on a November 3 flight. He stated he arrived in London on October 31 to attend the football match between Arsenal and CSKA Moscow on November 1.

British Airways issued an email to all its customers on December 5, 2006, informing them that the aircraft had all been declared safe by the UK's Health Protection Agency and would be entering back into service.

Death and last statement

On November 22, Litvinenko's medical staff at University College Hospital reported he had suffered a "major setback" due to either heart failure or an overnight heart attack; he died the following day. Scotland Yard reported that "[i]nquiries continue into the circumstances surrounding how Mr Litvinenko, 43 years, of North London, became unwell."

On November 25, two days after Litvinenko's death, an article attributed to him was published by the Mail on Sunday Online entitled Why I believe Putin wanted me dead.

Litvinenko's postmortem took place on December 1 and has been completed. It has been stated that three physicians attended, including one chosen by the family. Although the results will take several days to be announced, Walter Litvinenko has stated he was told by the doctors that Litivinenko's body had five times the level of polonium-210 that would be considered lethal.

According to Akhmed Zakayev, the Qur'an was read to him a day prior to his death. Litvinenko's funeral reading took place on December 7 at the Central London mosque, after which his body was buried at Highgate Cemetery in north London.

Investigations

Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service Terrorism Unit has been investigating the poisoning and death. The head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, stated the police "will trace possible witnesses, examine Mr. Litvinenko's movements at relevant times, including when he first became ill and identify people he may have met. There will also be an extensive examination of CCTV footage." The United Kingdom Government COBRA committee met to discuss the investigation. Richard Kolko from the United States FBI stated "when requested by other nations, we provide assistance" - referring to the FBI now joining the investigation for their expertise on radioactive weapons. The Metropolitan Police announced on 6 December 2006 that it was treating Litvinenko's death as murder. Interpol has also joined the investigation, providing "speedy exchange of information" between British, Russian and German police.

Russian Government Involvement Theory

The circumstances surrounding Litvinenko's death led to the assumption that he was killed by a Russian secret service.

Viktor Ilyukhin, a deputy chairman of the Russian Parliament’s security committee for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, said that he "can’t exclude that possibility". He said: "That former KGB officer had been irritating the Russian authorities for a long time and possibly knew some state secrets. So when our special services got the chance to operate not only inside but outside the country, they decided to get rid of him." He apparently referred to a recent Russian counter-terrorism law that gives the President the right to order such actions. Moreover, it has been reported in the Chechen State Press that an investigator of the Russian apartment bombings, Mikhail Trepashkin wrote in a letter from prison that an FSB team had organised in 2002 to kill Litvinenko. He also reported FSB plans to kill relatives of Litvinenko in Moscow in 2002, although these have not been carried out.

Leonid Nevzlin, a former Yukos oil company shareholder and Russian exile currently living in Israel, told the Associated Press in late November that Litvinenko had given him a document related to a dossier on criminal charges made by Russian prosecutors against people connected to Yukos. Nevzlin, who is charged by Russian prosecutors with having organized killings, fraud and tax evasion, claimed Litvinenko's inquiries may have provided a motive for his poisoning.

Akhmed Zakayev suggested that radioactive polonium has been previously tested on Chechen children. The mass poisoning of Chechen school children by the unknown substance with prolonged action has been described by Anna Politkovskaya in three articles published in Novaya Gazeta in 2006.

State Duma member, Sergei Abeltsev's comment of 24 November 2006 implies that Litvinenko was killed for his anti-Russian Government activities:

The deserved punishment reached the traitor. I am sure his terrible death will be a warning to all the traitors that in Russia the treason is not to be forgiven. I would recommend to citizen Berezovsky to avoid any food at the commemoration for his accomplice Litvinenko.

Litvinenko's widow Marina Litvinenko told Mail on Sunday that she believed the Russian authorities could have been behind the murder, although she didn't think president Putin himself was directly involved. Furthermore, she said she would not cooperate with the Russian investigators:

I can't believe that they will tell the truth. I can't believe if they ask about evidence they will use it in the proper way.

Russian Government response

The state controlled press in Russia has offered a number of alternatives to Litvinenko's demise. As one example, Russian state television has taken the view that if Litvinenko knew any important secrets, he would already have made them public during his six-year-long stay in the United Kingdom. According to this view, he was not an important person and not worth a loud political scandal. Also a suspicious simultaneousness between the deaths of the so-called oppositionals and big international summits with Russian participation was noted, along with the question who could be interested in worsening Russia's and Putin's image in front of them.

Vladimir Putin's aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky commented:

The excessive number of calculated coincidences between the deaths of people, who defined themselves as the opposition to the Russian authorities, and major international events involving Vladimir Putin is a source of concern. I am far from believing in the conspiracy theory, but, in this case, I think that we are witnessing a well-rehearsed plan of the consistent discrediting of the Russian Federation and its chief. In such cases, the famed "qui bono"^[sic] question has to be asked.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, dismissed the idea of Putin's involvement as "pure nonsense". The involvement of Moscow was denied by SVR representative Sergei Ivanov who said:

From the logical viewpoint and from the 'Who benefits?' viewpoint, I can't see any reasons for the speculation actively being disseminated by the western press alleging this might be the long arms of the KGB or the FSB, There should definitely be a careful and objective investigation. I am sure that it will be conducted and Russia is willing to render any assistance.

The main explanation put forward by the Russian Government appears to be that the deaths of Litvinenko and Politkovskaya were intended to embarrass President Putin. Federation Council of Russia Speaker Sergey Mironov said that "reports about Anna Politkovskaya and Litvinenko's deaths were released when Putin was meeting with EU leaders in Finland. I don't think the coincidence was accidental". However, Mironov went on to say, "It would be premature to make any conclusions about Litvinenko's death. We must wait until the investigation produces specific results."

British novelist Rupert Allason said he would be most surprised if the FSB had tried to kill Mr Litvinenko because it would fly in the face of 65 years of Soviet or Russian practice, as "[n]either the FSB nor the KGB has ever killed a defector on foreign soil and their predecessors, even under Stalin, did so only once in the case of Walter Krivitsky in Washington in 1941." It looks like he did not take into account a recent Russian counter-terrorism law that gives the President the right to order such actions.

Before Polonium-210 was identified as the poison, Vladimir Putin made the comment that

as far as I understand in the medical statement of British physicians, it doesn't say that this was a result of violence, this is not a violent death, so there is no ground for speculations of this kind..

He also called Litvinenko's letter "a provocation".

Since few people had any doubts about this being a case of poisoning, some commentaries that discussed Putin's "curious" comment interpreted it as a give-away of his involvement.

It has now been stated that the Russian government may consider using UK libel laws to silence journalists speculating about the Russian government's involvement.

Possibly related events

It has been reported that the UK envoy in Russia, Tony Brenton, has been under harassment by a group called Nashi, a right wing youth group. It has also been reported that BBC Russian services have gone off air after "technical difficulties."

It is stated that Andrey Limarev, a former FSB agent and a colleague of Litvinenko, has disappeared in the French Alps on 12th Dec after stating that he "would be next". It is believed that Limarav was a potential witness to the investigations.

Embarrassing deaths theory

Federation Council of Russia Speaker Sergey Mironov said that "reports about Politkovskaya and Litvinenko's deaths were released when Putin was meeting with EU leaders in Finland. I don't think the coincidence was accidental". However, Mironov went on to say, "It would be premature to make any conclusions about Litvinenko's death. We must wait until the investigation produces specific results."

Berezovsky theory

It has been claimed that the death of Litvinenko was connected to Boris Berezovsky. Former FSB chief Nikolay Kovalev, for whom Litvinenko worked, said that the incident "looks like [the] hand of Berezovsky. I am sure that no kind of intelligence services participated."

Another exiled Russian agent, Evgeni Limarev, has confirmed that there may have been a falling out between Berezovsky and Litvinenko and also that the British (MI6) and American secret agents had told Litvinenko that his life was in danger because of his ties with Berezovsky.

On the other hand, the FSB has previously accused Berezovsky of various murders, including that of Sergei Yushenkov, who worked with Berezovsky in founding the political party, Liberal Russia, and was assassinated shortly after the party was registered (another co-founder of this party Vladimir Golovlev was murdered a few months earlier). Four people were put on trial and convicted of the murder, among them Mikhail Kodanev, a co-chairman of Liberal Russia. Yushenkov's death and the conviction and jailing of the co-chairman of Liberal Russia for his murder is widely perceived to have been part of a policy of eliminating the political threat posed by Berezovsky to the establishment. Therefore the accusations from the FSB of Berezovsky's involvement warrant careful consideration.

Litvinenko himself said, in an article published after his death, that while he was employed by the FSB he was requested as part of a team to assassinate Berezovsky but refused, and instead went straight to him with the information. Traces of polonium 210 were found in an office belonging to Berezovsky.

Yukos theory

It has been suggested that Litvinenko was killed because of his research into the Russian Government's campaign against the management of the Russian oil company Yukos and its renationalisation. According to The Times, the police investigation is looking at Litvinenko's journey to Israel prior to his illness and death, where it is alleged that he gave information regarding Yukos to Leonid Nevzlin, the former deputy head of Yukos, who fled to Tel Aviv, including material relating to the deaths of former Yukos workers and information relating to the imprisonment of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It is believed that these documents have been handed over to the British investigators.

Yuri Shvets a former KGB agent has contacted police in London and detectives have flown out to Washington to interview him. He told the Observer that Litvinenko claimed before his death that he had prepared a dossier on the Russian Government's relationship with Yukos.

Ex-FSB members theory - Opponents of Putin in 2004 election

According to the Guardian: "British officials say the perpetrators were probably former Russian security agents, or members of a criminal gang linked to them. They also say that only a "state" institution would have access to polonium-210. They insist there is no evidence of the involvement of the Russian government."

"Scaramella showed Litvinenko a "hit-list" of people allegedly targeted for assassination by the Russian intelligence services and a shadowy group of KGB veterans called Dignity and Honour, which is run by a Colonel Velentin Velichko." Scaramella was, however, doubtful as to the authenticity of the emails he had received: "The problem for me was these mails were so full of details, so specific that they didn't seem genuine." Moreover, according to Scaramella, Litvinenko was also skeptical: "Alex laughed it off. He didn't have faith in the person who sent the message and said the whole thing was incredible. He said it was not realistic at all."

The Russian intelligence services are highly bureaucratic and legalistic. "There isn't a great deal of room for personal initiative, everything has to be officially authorised and signed off. And this murder would have been a highly complex operation involving many people not one or two acting in isolation."

Opponents in 2008 election theory

Some believe that the public assassination of Litvinenko shows the growing fight between Kremlin clans is "spinning out of control" ahead of the 2008 Russian presidential elections, in which Putin said he would not run for a third term.

Suicide theory

Some observers have suggested the death was suicide; the finding of radioactive material at several locations, including Litvinenko's house has led to some suggesting that Litvinenko killed himself to discredit the Russian government. These theories have now been discounted by the investigating police, without further elaboration.

Blackmail plot theory

In the The Observer, a Russian student, Julia Svetlichnaja, said that Litvinenko openly told her that he was intending to blackmail senior Russian officials and businessmen. She also claimed that she had become increasingly concerned about his numerous emails alleging a great variety of plots, particularly noting his claim that Putin was a paedophile. The Observer claimed his "access to such documents could have made him an enemy of both big business interests and the Kremlin". However, Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, a friend of Aleksander Litvinenko, has argued that this version is obviously untrue.

Following this, the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten speculated that Svetlichnaja may have been part of a Russian government plot to discredit Litvinenko and the whole theory of Russian government involvement by making Litvinenko appear to be an odd individual with many unfounded stories. Aftenposten based their allegations against Svetlichnaja on the word of an 'unnamed British professor of Russian' - actually Martin Dewhirst, a longtime collaborator with the CIA-funded Radio Free Europe. Allegations in interviews with the British press by Svetlichnaja described Litvinenko being obsessed with being hunted by Russian agents. Aftenposten have tried to suggest that Svetlichnaja is operating under a front company as non-official cover for the Russian government - though there is no evidence that any company Svetlichnaja ever worked for had any links with the Russian government - in order to ensure Litvinenko was made to be seen as a paranoid individual. The newspaper made a call to speak to the director of the Russian company concerned that Svetlichnaja is alleged to be listed involved in. The director, Alexei Yashechkin, said "it was probably someone of a similar name" and the director became increasingly hesitant on the phone before hanging up.

After these allegations Svetlichnaja appeared in person to defend herself at a press conference at the University of Westminster on 8 December 2006, but failed to answer any of the questions that still needed to be answered according to Aftenposten though in fact all three of Aftenposten's questions were answered at length, without being included in their report.

Another article by Svetlichnaja and James Heartfield in the Daily Telegraph does not support the theory of blackmailing plans, though Heartfield did tell the Westminster University press conference that he heard Litvinenko say similar things.

Al Qaida link

It is reported that MI6 had learnt that Al Qaida had offered millions of dollars to anyone that could supply them with polonium. By an interception of a phone call in Peshawar, GCHQ learnt information that Al Qaida were actively seeking polonium. This has now been passed to investigators to find out whether Litvinenko was in any way connected with attempting to supply polonium.

Erinsys and the Iraqi National Congress

It has been reported that Litvinenko visited the London office of the a British private military contractor Erinsys. The company is believed to have links to the Iraqi National Congress and also linked with Ahmad Chalabi. This will become another avenue of enquiry in the investigation.

Russian cooperation and extradition

Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika said, "we will do everything to provide legal assistance to our colleagues", referring to Scotland Yard detectives. However, Chaika went on to say that "the person who is accused will be convicted by a Russian court". It is reported that Andrei Lugovoi will not be interviewed now as the Russian authorities have refused access to him because of reported illness. However, Lugovoi's lawyer states that Lugovoi is fit to be interviewed and it is not true he is ill.

Leaks to press about ongoing investigation

As can be expected in any investigation, the media will find sources to gather information from about ongoing evidence. Recently it has been stated that Litvinenko travelled by bus to the hotel he was allegedly poisoned at, as he had a bus ticket in his pocket from that day. This has been recovered as part of the evidence in the investigation. Now that the bus has been cleared of any radioactivity trace, the police have traced the actual poisoning event to the hotel due to the large amount of radioactivity found there, and hence the investigation became a murder investigation. Information also states that the investigation is now taking place as the hotel being the location of the poisoning as polonium has been found in a fourth-floor room and in a cup in the Pine Bar at the hotel.

BBC Interview With Yuri Shvets

In an interview with the BBC broadcast on 16 December 2006, Yuri Shvets said that he and Litvinenko had compliled a report investigating the activities of senior Kremlin officials on behalf of a British company looking to invest "dozens of millions of dollars" in a project in Russia. Shvets said the dossier was so incriminating about one senior Kremlin official, who was not named, it was likely that Litvinenko was murdered in revenge. He alleged that Litvinenko had shown the dossier to another business associate, Andrei Lugovoi, who had worked for the KGB and later the FSB. Shvets alleged that Lugovoi is still an FSB informant and he had passed the dossier to members of the spy service. Shvets says he was interviewed about his allegations by Scotland Yard detectives investigating Litvinenko's murder.

Further people contaminated or related to the case

Yegor Gaidar

The sudden illness of Yegor Gaidar in Ireland on November 24, the day of Litvinenko's death, has been linked to his visit to the restaurant where polonium was present and is being investigated as part of the overall investigation in the UK and Ireland. However, other observers noted he was probably poisoned after drinking a strange-tasting cup of tea. Gaidar was taken to hospital; doctors said his condition is not life-threatening and that he will recover. This incident was similar to the poisoning of Anna Politkovskaya on a flight to Beslan.

After poisoning, Gaidar claimed that it was enemies of Kremlin who tried to poison him. He gave reasoning that Kremlin was a least interested organization to kill him. He also published his thoughts in Financial Times.

Mario Scaramella

The United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency (HPA) announced that significant quantities of polonium-210 had been found in Mario Scaramella although his health was found to be normal. He has been admitted to hospital for tests and monitoring. Doctors say that Scaramella was exposed to a much lower level of polonium-210 than Litvinenko had been exposed to, and that preliminary tests found "no evidence of radiation toxicity". According to the 6 pm channel 4 (9 December 2006) news the intake of polonium he suffered will only result in a dose of 1 mSv. This will lead to a 1 in 20000 chance of cancer.

Police are likely to be investigating Scaramella's allegation that Litvinenko was involved in smuggling radioactive material to Zurich in 2000.

Litvinenko's widow

UK reports state Litvinenko's widow tested positive for polonium, though she is not seriously ill. The Ashdown Park hotel in Sussex has been evacuated as a precaution, possibly to do with Scaramella's previous visit there. According to the 6 pm channel 4 (9 December 2006) news the intake of polonium she suffered will only result in a dose of 100 mSv. This will lead to a 1 in 200 chance of cancer.

Akhmed Zakayev

The forensic investigation also includes the silver Mercedes by Litvinenko's home believed to be owned by his close friend and neighbour Akhmed Zakayev, the foreign minister of the rebel government in exile from Chechnya. Reports now state that traces of radioactive material were found in the vehicle.

Dmitry Kovtun

The former KGB agent Dmitry Kovtun met Litvinenko in London first in mid-October and then on 1 November, the day Litvinenko fell ill. On 7 December Kovtun is hospitalized, with some sources initially reporting him to be in coma. On 9 December, German police find traces of radiation at Hamburg flat used by Kovtun. The following day, 10 December, German investigators identified the detected material as polonium-210 and clarified that the substance was found where Kovtun had slept the night before departing for London. British police also report having detected polonium on the plane in which Kovtun travelled from Moscow. Three other points in Hamburg were identified as contaminated with the same substance. On 12 December Kovtun told Russia's Channel One TV that his "health was improving".

There are two conflicting theories about Dmitry Kovtun. One theory is, he may be the murderer or one of the murderers of Alexander Litvinenko, and may have made mistakes in handling the substance used, Polonium-210. The other theory is, that he is a victim just like Alexander Litvinenko; however, given how quickly Litvinenko fell ill once poisoned, it is improbable that Kovtun was poisoned without consequence for such a long period that he was able to travel so much and leave so many traces in his wake .

Kovtun is currently under investigation by German detectives for suspected plutonium smuggling into Germany in October.

British Police

Two London Metropolitan police officers tested positive for Po-210 poisoning.

Bar staff

Some of the bar staff at the hotel where the polonium contaminated teacup was found were found to have suffered an intake of polonium (dose in the range of 10s of mSv).

Chronology of events

• 7 June 1994: A remote-controlled bomb detonated aiming at chauffeured Mercedes 600 with oligarch Boris Berezovsky and his bodyguard in the rear seat. Driver died but Berezovsky left the car unscathed. Litvinenko, then with the organized-crime unit of the FSB, was an investigating officer of the assassination attempt. The case was never solved, but it was at this point that Litvinenko befriended Berezovsky.

• 17 November 1998: At a time that Vladimir Putin was the head of the FSB, five officers including Lieutenant-Colonel Litvinenko accuse the Director of the Directorate for the Analysis of Criminal Organizations Major-General Eugeny Hoholkhov and his deputy, 1st Rank Captain Alexander Kamishnikov, of ordering them to assassinate Boris Berezovsky in November 1997.

• 1999: Russian apartment bombings. Duma, on a pro-Kremlin party block vote, voted to seal all materials related to Ryazan incident for the next 75 years and forbade an investigation of what really happened.
• 1999 to Present: Second Chechen War.
• 31 December 1999: Vladimir Putin succeeds Boris Yeltsin after he resigned due to bad health.
• 26 March 2000: Presidential elections, Putin elected.
• 14 March 2004: Putin re-elected, opponent was Ivan Rybkin.
• 7 October 2006: The Russian journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya is shot in Moscow.
• 16 October 2006: Andrei Lugovoi flies to London.
• 16 October-18 October 2006: Former KGB agent Dmitry Kovtun visits London, during which time he eats two meals with Litvinenko, one of them at the Itsu sushi bar (see 1 November 2006).
• 17 October 2006: Litvinenko visits Risc Management, a security firm in Cavendish Place, with Lugovoi and Kovtun.
• 19 October 2006: Litvinenko accuses President Putin of the Politkovskaya murder.
• 28 October 2006: Dmitry Kovtun arrived in Hamburg, Germany from Moscow on an Aeroflot flight. Later German police discovered that the passenger seat of the car that picked him up at an airport was contaminated with Polonium-210.
• 31 October 2006: Dmitry Kovtun comes to London from Hamburg, Germany.
• 1 November 2006: Litvinenko meets with the former KGB agents Andrei Lugovoi, Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko in the Millenium Hotel in London. At the Itsu sushi restaurant on Picadilly, he meets the Italian security expert Mario Scaramella, who hands alleged evidence to him concerning the murder of Politkovskaya. Sources conflict as to which meeting took place first. Litvinenko becomes ill.
• 3 November 2006: Litvinenko is brought into Barnet General Hospital.
• 11 November 2006: Litvinenko tells the BBC he was poisoned and is in very bad condition.
• 17 November 2006: Litvinenko is moved to University College Hospital and placed under armed guard.
• 19 November 2006: Reports emerge that Litvinenko has been poisoned with thallium, a chemical element used in the past as a rat poison.
• 20 November 2006: Litvinenko is moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The police take statements from people with close relation to Litvinenko. A Kremlin speaker denies the Russian government is involved in the poisoning.
• 22 November 2006: The hospital announces that Litvinenko's condition has worsened substantially.
• 23 November 2006: Litvinenko dies at 9:21 P.M.
• 24 November 2006: Litvinenko's dictated deathbed statement is published. He accuses President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death. The Kremlin rejects the accusation. The HPA announces that significant amounts of Polonium-210 have been found in Litvinenko's body. Traces of the same substance are also found at Litvinenko's house in North London, at Itsu and at the Millenium Hotel.
• 24 November 2006 Sergei Abeltsev, State Duma member from the LDPR, in his Duma address he commented on the death of Litvinenko with the following words: The deserved punishment reached the traitor. I am sure his terrible death will be a warning to all the traitors that in Russia the treason is not to be forgiven. I would recommend to citizen Berezovsky to avoid any food at the commemoration for his crime accomplice Litvinenko
• 24 November 2006: The British police state they are investigating the death as a possible poisoning.
• 28 November 2006: Scotland Yard announces that traces of Polonium-210 have been found in seven different places in London. Among them, an office of the Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, an avowed opponent of Putin.
• 29 November 2006: The HPA announces screening of the nurses and physicians who treated Litvinenko. The authorities find traces of a radioactive substance on board British Airways planes.
• 30 November 2006: Polonium-210 traces are found on a number of other planes, most of them going to Moscow.
• 1 December 2006: An autopsy is performed on the body of Litvinenko. Toxicology results from Mr Litvinenko's post-mortem examination revealed two "spikes" of radiation poisoning, suggesting he received two separate doses. Scaramella tests positive for Polonium-210 and is admitted into a hospital. Litvinenko's widow also tests positive for Polonium-210, but was not sent to the hospital for treatment.
• 2 December 2006: Scotland Yard's counter-terrorist unit have questioned Yuri Shvets, a former KGB spy who emigrated to the United States in 1993. He was questioned as a witness in Washington in the presence of FBI officers. Shvets claimed that he has a "lead that can explain what happened".
• 6 December 2006: Scotland Yard announced that it is treating his death as a murder.
• 7 December 2006: Confused reports state that Dmitry Kovtun was hospitalized, the reason has not yet been made clear.
• 7 December 2006: Russian Office of the Prosecutor General has opened a criminal case over poisoning of Litvinenko and Kovtun by the articles "Murder committed in a way endangering the general public" (убийство, совершенное общеопасным способом) and "Attempted murder of two or more persons committed in a way endangering the general public".
• 8 December 2006: Kovtun is reported to be in coma.
• 9 December 2006: German police find traces of radiation at Hamburg flat used by Kovtun.
• 9 December 2006: UK police identify a single cup at the Pines Bar in the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair which was almost certainly the one used to administer the poison.
• 11 December 2006: Andrei Lugovoi is interrogated in Moscow by UK Scotland Yard and General Procurator's office of the Russian Federation. He refuses to reveal any information concerning the interrogation.
• 12 December 2006: Dmitry Kovtun tells a Russian TV station that his "health [is] improving".
• 24 December 2006: Mario Scaramella was arrested in Naples on his return from London, on apparently unrelated charges.

List of suspects

• Igor the Assassin
• Andrei Lugovoi
• Dmitry Kovtun
• Vyacheslav Sokolenko
• Leonid Nevzlin [1], [2]

Comparisons to other deaths

Deaths from ingesting radioactive materials

According to the IAEA in 1960 a person ingested 74 MBq of radium (assumed to be ^{226Ra) and this person died four years later. Harold McCluskey survived 11 years (eventually dying from cardiorespiratory failure) after an intake of at least 37 MBq of 241Am (He was exposed in 1976). It is estimated that he suffered doses of 18 Gy to his bone mass, 520 Gy to the bone surface, 8 Gy to the liver and 1.6 Gy to the lungs; it is also claimed that a post mortem examination revealed no signs of cancer in his body. The October 1983 issue of the journal Health Physics was dedicated to McCluskey, and subsequent papers about him appeared in the September 1995 issue.}

Suspicious deaths of people involved in Russian politics

Comparisons have been made to the alleged 2004 poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko, the alleged 2003 poisoning of Yuri Shchekochikhin and the fatal 1978 poisoning of the journalist Georgi Markov by the Bulgarian Committee for State Security. The incident with Litvinenko has also attracted comparisons to the poisoning by radioactive thallium of KGB defector Nikolay Khokhlov and journalist Shchekochikhin of Novaya Gazeta (the Novaya Gazeta interview with the former, coincidentally, prepared by Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was later found shot to death in her apartment building). Like Litvinenko, Shchekochikhin had investigated the Russian apartment bombings (he was a member of the Kovalev Commission that hired Litvinenko's friend Mikhail Trepashkin as a legal counsel).

Former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky believes the murders of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, Shchekochikhin, and Politkovskaya and the incident with Litvinenko show that FSB has returned to the practice of political assassinations, which were conducted in the past by Thirteenth KGB Department. A comparison was also made with Roman Tsepov who was responsible for personal protection of Anatoly Sobchak and Putin, and who died in Russia in 2004 from poisoning by an unknown radioactive substance. Officers of FSB "special forces" liked to use Litvinenko photos for the target practice in shooting galleries, according to Russian journalist Yulia Latynina.

Trivia

• According to some estimations [3], cost of Polonium-210 used to kill Litvinenko is around £20 million ($ 39 million), which would make it the most (?) expensive murder in history. However, this estimation seems to be based on retail prices of commercially available demonstration radiation sources (such as those sold by United Nuclear, for example), which contain very little quantities of Po-210 (one would need about 50 000 pieces to get the dose used in this poisoning). For more plausible, and much lower estimations, see above: the cost could be as low as only $ 7000.

• Irène Joliot-Curie was the first person to die because of exposure to polonium. Her parents Marie and Pierre Curie were first to discover and name this new element in 1898.
• Thriller writers Frederick Forsyth and Andy McNab claim that killing of Alexander Litvinenko is a classic case of fact being stranger than fiction. They would be fighting a losing battle if they offered a Litvinenko-style story to a publisher.
• TV drama commissioned. It has been reported that Channel 4 in the UK has signed Mentorn Productions to make a television drama on the Litvinenko poisioning, and that Peter Kosminsky will be directing.

See also

• Extrajudicial punishment
• State-sponsored terrorism
• FSB

External links

• The Litvinenko affair: Murder most opaque - The Economist
• From Russia with lies in Salon.com
• The Litvinenko Chronicles
• Terror99 Information on the Russian apartment bombings and books by Alexander Litvinenko
• Alexander Litvinenko at the Frontline Club accusing Vladimir Putin of the assassination of journalist Anna Politkovskaya (In Russian and English)
• The article by film-maker Andrei Nekrasov in The Times
• Watch the Andrei Nekrasov film "Disbelief (Loose change in Russia 1999)" which recounts the book "Blowing up Russia: Terror from within" by Alexander Litvinenko
• UKIP MEP Gerard Batten reveals some information given to him by Alexander Litvinenko
• "The Oligarchs"; Former Knesset Member Uri Avnery on how Berezovsky et. al. amassed their wealth
• An American company which legally sells small quantities of Polonium-210 over the internet
• Blog from participant of the Litvinenko funeral - comments and analysis