Posted on 06/10/2022 12:35:44 PM PDT by nickcarraway
One of two men believed by British intelligence to have poisoned a Russian spy’s tea with a rare radioactive substance in London has died, according to a state-owned news agency
One of the men accused of killing former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London has died of Covid-19 in Moscow, according to reports.
Dmitri Kovtun was one of two men who a UK inquiry ruled had poisoned Litvinenko’s tea with a rare radioactive substance back in 2006.
Reports from state-owned Russian news agency Tass said Kovtun contracted coronavirus before dying in a Moscow hospital.
Kovtun, along with Andrei Lugovoi, was accused of being behind Litvinenko’s assassination 16 years ago at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair.
Reports said Tass cited Lugovoi, now a member of Russia’s parliament, as saying that 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.
The inquiry found the two Russian men had deliberately poisoned 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 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 Kovtun and Lugovoi.
How convenient.
Hell is getting more awful by the day.
Maybe it was covid, maybe not. A lead-lined casket seems prudent, just in case.
Takes me back to the 1980s when Soviet leaders got colds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.