Posted in 4. June 2022, 21:13
In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko (44), a former secret KGB agent and critic of the Kremlin, died in agony as a result of radioactive polonium poisoning in agony. Now one of his alleged killers has died of coronary disease.
1/4
After poisoning, Alexander Litvinenko died in great agony in a London hospital.
Getty
Dmitry Kovtun has been identified as one of his two suspected killers.
REUTERS
Former KGB agents Andrei Lugovoy (left) and Dmitry Kovtun commented on their role in the case at a press conference on the first anniversary of Alexander Litvinenko’s death.
imago
Almost 16 years after the poisoning of the Kremlin’s opponent Alexander Litvinenko in London, Dmitry Kovtun, accused by the British justice system, died at the age of 57 as a result of coronary disease, the Russian state agency Tass reported on Saturday. . Kovtun, who lived in Germany for some time, was said to have poisoned Litvinenko with the radioactive isotope of polonium-210. Another suspect, Andrei Lugovoy, a member of the Russian parliament, confirmed the death on his Telegram news channel.
«My close and loyal friend Dmitry Kovtun died prematurely. It is an irreplaceable and heavy loss for us, ”said Lugovoy. He and Kovtun are suspected by the British judiciary of killing a former Russian secret service agent Litvinenko in 2006 with the radioactive substance polonium 210. Litvinenko from his bed accused Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin of being behind the attack. He died in November 2006 in the most severe torment as a result of irradiation.
Poison given in tea
Photos of the visibly marked radiation victim then circulated around the world. Kovtun, Lugovoy and the Russian authorities deny that they have any connection with the death. Former intelligence agent Lugovoy and Kovtun met Litvinenko for tea at the Millennium Hotel in London’s chic Mayfair. Litvinenko, who, according to a British investigative report, was considered a traitor in the Kremlin, was poisoned there.
Before the attack, Kovtun visited his German wife in Hamburg and, as it later turned out, left a trace of polonium through the city. The officer applied for asylum in Germany in 1991. Like Lugovoy, he returned to Russia after the crime and avoided British justice. Arrest warrants against him and Lugovoy could never be executed.
Litvinenko was one of the Kremlin’s harshest critics. Among other things, he accused the national FSB special services for which he worked for being responsible for the bombings of residential buildings in Russia, which were supposed to be a pretext for the Second Chechen War in 1999.
(DPA / trx)