Russian accused of killing Alexander Litvinenko reportedly dies from Covid-19

Dmitri Kovtun was one of two men who a UK inquiry ruled had laced the former Russian spy’s tea with a rare radioactive substance in 2006.
The coffin of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is carried during his funeral at Highgate Cemetery in north London (Pool/PA)
PA Archive
Pa Reporters4 June 2022

One of the men accused of killing former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London has died of Covid-19 in Moscow, it has been widely reported.

Dmitri Kovtun was one of two men who a UK inquiry ruled had poisoned Mr Litvinenko’s tea with a rare radioactive substance in 2006.

In reports being attributed to Russian news agency Tass, Mr Kovtun is said to have contracted coronavirus before dying in a Moscow hospital.

Mr Kovtun, along with Andrei Lugovoi, was accused of being behind Mr Litvinenko’s assassination 16 years ago at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was ruled to have ‘probably’ approved Alexander Litvinenko’s killing (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
AP

Reports said Tass cited Mr Lugovoi, now a member of Russia’s parliament, as saying he was mourning the death of a “close and faithful friend”.

A British public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the killing of the outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, who died after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210, had “probably” been carried out with the approval of the Russian President.

Headed by the former High Court judge Sir Robert Owen, the inquiry found the two Russian men – Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun – had deliberately poisoned Mr Litvinenko by putting the radioactive substance into his drink at the central London hotel, leading to an agonising death.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also ruled last year, following a case brought by the deceased’s widow, Marina Litvinenko, that Russia was responsible for his killing.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the death and had refused to comply with international arrest warrants issued for Mr Kovtun and also Mr Lugovoi.

Sir Robert’s Litvinenko inquiry said the use of the radioactive substance – which could only have come from a nuclear reactor – was a “strong indicator” of state involvement and that the two men had probably been acting under the direction of the Russian security service the FSB, which Mr Litvinenko used to work for, as well as the KGB.

Possible motives included Mr Litvinenko’s work for British intelligence agencies after fleeing Russia, his criticism of the FSB, and his association with other Russian dissidents, while it was said there was also a “personal dimension” to the antagonism between him and Mr Putin.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in