The chief suspect in the killing of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko today claimed that British intelligence services had a hand in the poisoning – an assertion likely to further damage relations between Moscow and London.
Andrei Lugovoy told a news conference he had evidence to back up his claim but would only give details to Russian investigators. Lugovoy, himself a former KGB agent, met with Litvinenko in London hours before he fell ill in November.
Britain has requested Lugovoy’s extradition to face murder charges. Russia refuses to hand him over.
Lugovoy described the British accusations as an attempt to divert attention from Litvinenko’s contacts with Britain’s spy services.
He said Litvinenko had tried to recruit him to work for MI6 and gather compromising materials about Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that he had refused.
“It’s hard to get rid of the thought that Litvinenko was an agent who got out of the secret service’s control and was eliminated,” Lugovoy said. “Even if it was not done by the secret service itself, it was done under its control or connivance.”
The Foreign Office declined comment.
Oleg Gordievsky, a former top KGB spy who worked for MI6 and defected to Britain, dismissed Lugovoy’s claims as “silly fantasies”.
He said Litvinenko had worked for a domestic intelligence agency in Russia and was of no interest to British intelligence.
“Litvinenko was not needed,” Gordievsky, who was Litvinenko’s friend, said on BBC television.
Lugovoy’s allegations seem certain to further split Moscow and London over the sensational murder case. Litvinenko died on November 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210.
In a deathbed statement, he accused Putin of being behind his killing.
Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s lower parliament house, said on Russia Today television that British authorities should help investigate the “very serious accusations against British secret services”.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said it would investigate Lugovoy’s statements as part of its own probe into Litvinenko’s killing, and was already checking similar claims he made under questioning.
Andrei Lugovoy told a news conference he had evidence to back up his claim but would only give details to Russian investigators. Lugovoy, himself a former KGB agent, met with Litvinenko in London hours before he fell ill in November.
Britain has requested Lugovoy’s extradition to face murder charges. Russia refuses to hand him over.
Lugovoy described the British accusations as an attempt to divert attention from Litvinenko’s contacts with Britain’s spy services.
He said Litvinenko had tried to recruit him to work for MI6 and gather compromising materials about Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that he had refused.
“It’s hard to get rid of the thought that Litvinenko was an agent who got out of the secret service’s control and was eliminated,” Lugovoy said. “Even if it was not done by the secret service itself, it was done under its control or connivance.”
The Foreign Office declined comment.
Oleg Gordievsky, a former top KGB spy who worked for MI6 and defected to Britain, dismissed Lugovoy’s claims as “silly fantasies”.
He said Litvinenko had worked for a domestic intelligence agency in Russia and was of no interest to British intelligence.
“Litvinenko was not needed,” Gordievsky, who was Litvinenko’s friend, said on BBC television.
Lugovoy’s allegations seem certain to further split Moscow and London over the sensational murder case. Litvinenko died on November 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210.
In a deathbed statement, he accused Putin of being behind his killing.
Konstantin Kosachev, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia’s lower parliament house, said on Russia Today television that British authorities should help investigate the “very serious accusations against British secret services”.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s office said it would investigate Lugovoy’s statements as part of its own probe into Litvinenko’s killing, and was already checking similar claims he made under questioning.
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