One of the men accused of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 has died of Covid-19.
Dmitry Kovtun was one of two men accused by Britain of poisoning Litvinenko, a former Russian spy and outspoken critic of the Kremlin who died weeks after drinking green tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in London.
He had met Kovtun and the other suspect, Andrei Lugovoy, at a London hotel before falling ill.
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Kovtun has now died in hospital after contracting Covid, with Lugovoy saying he was mourning the death of a ‘close and loyal friend’.
Russian news agency TASS quoted Lugovoy – who is now a prominent member of the Russian parliament – as saying: “This is an irreplaceable and difficult loss for us.
"Today we have the sad news that my close and loyal friend Dmitry Kovtun passed away suddenly as a result of a serious illness linked to a coronavirus infection.
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“From the bottom of my heart I express my deepest condolences to all of Dima’s [Dmitry’s] relatives and friends. Sleep well, dear friend! We will never forget you.”
A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that Litvinenko’s killing had ‘probably’ been carried out with the approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The inquiry, which was headed by former high court judge Sir Robert Owen, found that Lugovoy and Kovtun had deliberately poisoned Litvinenko by putting polonium-210 into his drink at London's Millennium Hotel, leading to an agonising death.
It said the use of the radioactive substance – which could only have come from a nuclear reactor – was a ‘strong indicator’ of state involvement.
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The public inquiry also said that the two suspects had probably been acting under the direction of the Russian security service, the FSB, which Litvinenko used to work for.
Last September, the European Court of Human Rights also ruled that Russia was responsible for Litvinenko’s death, after the case was brought forward by his widow Marina.
A statement from the court said at the time: “The Court found in particular that there was a strong prima facie case that, in poisoning Mr Litvinenko, Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun had been acting as agents of the Russian State.
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"It noted that the Government had failed to provide any other satisfactory and convincing explanation of the events or counter the findings of the UK inquiry.”
The court found no evidence that either man had any personal reason to kill Litvinenko, and would not have had access to the substance ‘if acting on their own behalf’.
Russia has always denied any involvement in Litvinenko’s death.
Topics: World News
Jess Hardiman