The Case Of Litvinenko, The Trails Of Polonium, And The Islamic Terrorism As a False Flag of The Russian Intelligence - News and Web Review: Chechen Nuclear Bomb Explodes in Renewed Litvinenko Inquest - February 11, 2015 | Exploring Al-Qa’ida’s Russian Connection - The XX Committee - June 10, 2014 | Some Notable Excerpts from Litvinenko Inquiry: "nuclear suitcase bomb"... | Russia Is Sending Jihadis to Join ISIS - The Daily Beast
The Trails Of Polonium,
And The
Islamic Terrorism As a False Flag of The Russian Intelligence
Quotes:
"On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised. He died three weeks later, and becoming the first known victim of lethal polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome.[1][2] According to his doctors: "Litvinenko's murder represents an ominous landmark: the beginning of an era of nuclear terrorism".[3][4][5] Litvinenko's allegations about the misdeeds of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) and his public deathbed accusations that the Russian government was behind his unusual malady resulted in worldwide media coverage.[6]...
The circumstances surrounding Litvinenko's untimely death led immediately to suspicion that he was killed by a Russian secret service, although there was no hard proof of this and the evidence was only circumstantial."
Alexander Litvinenko assassination theories - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Following World War II, practically every terrorist organization in the world, whether it be Islamist or Communist, was financed, trained, armed and advised by Soviet intelligence or one of its proxies. There is nothing new or even noteworthy about this fundamental fact."
MUST READ: Muslim terrorism - false flag operation sponsored by Russia | Examiner.com
"[Note: This is an unusually controversial piece, even for my blog, for reasons that will quickly become obvious. Linkages between Al-Qa'ida and Russian intelligence have been discussed in hushed tones among spies in many countries, for years, and this matter has been a "hobby file" of mine for some time. Here is a think-piece on it, in the hope of spurring additional discussion and research into this important yet murky matter. This is particularly necessary given rising tensions between Moscow and the West at present. Considering the subject, I have eschewed my usual hyperlinks in favor of proper end-notes.]...
No greater example exists of this “blank page” in the al-Qa’ida story than its connections to foreign intelligence services...
The murkiest of these relations, however, has been the connection between al-Qa’ida and Russian intelligence. While the outlines of the story have been known for years, and even admitted by Moscow and the mujahidin, details remain elusive. Moreover, asking important questions about this relationship seems to be an issue few appear interested in probing deeply, even in the United States."
"That Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s right-hand man and the leader of the global jihad movement since bin Laden’s death in May 2011, spent almost a half-year in the mid-1990s in the custody of Russian intelligence is admitted by both sides and is a matter of public record.
Just as significant, Zawahiri’s Russian sojourn occurred at a pivotal point in the development of al-Qa’ida; the shift in strategy, resulting in attacks on the “far enemy” (i.e. the United States), the road leading to 9/11, occurred after Zawahiri’s imprisonment by the Russians...
Zawahiri has been tight-lipped about his half-year in Russia; his numerous writings and pronouncements about his life barely mention the tale. “God blinded them to our identities,” he explained. The FSB agrees that they failed to identify the leading holy warrior. “In 1997, Russian special services were not aware of al-Zawahiri,” elaborated an FSB spokesman in 2003: “However, later, using various databases, we managed to identify this former detainee.”[5]
There are many reasons to doubt the official story told by both sides in the affair...
Hard evidence about what Zawahiri was doing in Russian custody has not been forthcoming. Dissident FSB Colonel Aleksandr Litvinenko made explosive claims. In a 2005 interview, Litvinenko asserted that Zawahiri actually underwent training by the FSB in Dagestan during his half-year in Russian custody, and that Russian intelligence then dispatched him to Afghanistan to become bin Laden’s right-hand man. “I worked in the same division [of the FSB],” he stated, “I have grounds to assert that al-Zawahiri is not the only link between the FSB and al-Qa’ida.”[8]
Litvinenko’s assertions are impossible to substantiate, though his assassination in London a little over a year after giving that interview, apparently at the hands of Russian intelligence, gives the claims perhaps more believability than they might otherwise warrant.[9]
Just as important, it is known that Russian intelligence had ties to Islamist extremists in Chechnya long before Zawahiri entered the region. From the early 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian intelligence formed discreet ties with radical Islamists in the Caucasus, including men who would later become leading mujahidin."
Exploring Al-Qa’ida’s Russian Connection | The XX Committee - June 10, 2014
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The news agency Adnkronos reported in 2009 that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, under an assumed name, had traveled to Bosnia in 1995, as a humanitarian aid worker for Egyptian Relief.[20] Adnkronos quoted the Sarajevo paper Daily Fokus, reporting that local intelligence officials confirmed Mohammed had obtained Bosnian citizenship in November 1995.[20] Those officials told Daily Fokus that Egyptian Relief was a front for the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Upshot
"None of this excludes the possibility that officials in Moscow might have been involved in the murder of Litvinenko and/or the smuggling to the Chechen terrorists that Berezovskii was likely engaged in. However, it does strongly suggest that someone among the Chechens was trying to build a bomb or help others to do so and that Berezovskii was assisting them. Shamil Basaev, who in 1995 planted a vile of cesium in a Moscow park and then held a press conference to announce it, died in June 2006 just months before Litvinenko’s demise. Thus, the smuggling operation could have been the continuation of a Basaeyev operation to acquire a nuclear bomb. Litvinenko may or may not have been fully aware of Berezovskii’s operations.
The larger issue is that it is now confirmed that less than 9 years ago there were and today there likely remain circles within the Caucasus branch of the global jihadi revolutionary movement pursuing a nuclear capability."
Chechen Nuclear Bomb Explodes in Renewed Litvinenko Inquest - February 11, 2015
______________________________________________
The Case Of Litvinenko, The Trails OF Polonium, And The Islamic Terrorism As a False Flag - News and Web Review
The False flags of Islamic Terrorism
- MUST READ: Muslim terrorism - false flag operation sponsored by Russia | Examiner.com
- How Russia Manipulates Islamic Terrorism | The Syrian Intifada
- Exploring Al Qaeda’s Murky Connection To Russian Intelligence - Business Insider-2
- Russia Is Sending Jihadis to Join ISIS - The Daily Beast
- Russian FSB Defector Reveals Kremlin Supports ISIS
- Mali hotel attack: The unanswered questions - BBC News
- Russia and Islam are not Separate: Why Russia backs Al-Qaeda, by Konstantin Preobrazhensky - Google Search
- Russia Was Behind 9/11 -Former Soviet Intelligence Officers - Blogs & Discussions - Patriot Action Network
- The Spirit Of Truth Blog: Russia Was Behind 9/11-2
- Konstantin Preobrazhensky - Google Search
- KGB/FSB's New Trojan Horse: Americans of Russian Descent: Konstantin Preobrazhensky, Various, Andy Glad Graphic Design: 9780615249087: Amazon.com: Books
- Nyquist, J.R. “Is Al Qaeda a Kremlin Proxy.” August 13, 2005
- Putin’s Russia. Why it is worth to reconsider links between Kremlin and international terrorism - EN.DELFI
- Paris Shooting: 10 Hallmark Signs of a False Flag Op
- Islamic Terrorism As a False Flag - Google Search
The Hamburg Connection
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- hamburg and russian intelligence - Google Search
- Germans monitor Russian intelligence in Hamburg | German News | Expatica Germany
- Context of '1996: Tip from Turkey Points German Intelligence to Hamburg Cell Member Zammar'
- Breaking the Al-Qaeda code
- Al-Qaeda's Post-9/11 Devolution: The Failed Jihadist Struggle Against the ... - Anthony Celso - Google Books
- Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of ... - Bob Graham, Jeff Nussbaum - Google Books
- hamburg cell and russian intelligence - Google Search
- hamburg cell and kovtun - Google Search
- Planning of the September 11 attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Hamburg cell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- hamburg cell - Google Search
- false flag 911 - Google Search
- hamburg and russian intelligence - Google Search
- Germans monitor Russian intelligence in Hamburg | German News | Expatica Germany
- Context of '1996: Tip from Turkey Points German Intelligence to Hamburg Cell Member Zammar'
- Breaking the Al-Qaeda code
- Al-Qaeda's Post-9/11 Devolution: The Failed Jihadist Struggle Against the ... - Anthony Celso - Google Books
- Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of ... - Bob Graham, Jeff Nussbaum - Google Books
- hamburg cell and russian intelligence - Google Search
- hamburg cell and kovtun - Google Search
- Planning of the September 11 attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Hamburg cell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- hamburg cell - Google Search
- false flag 911 - Google Search
The Opinions: JR Nyquist and others
The Issues Of Islamic Nuclear Power And The Suitcase Bombs
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- Islamic Nuclear Power - Google Search
- Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age - New York Times
- ISIS Nuclear Weapon? Islamic State Claims It Can Buy Nukes From Pakistan Within A Year In Dabiq Propaganda Magazine
- pakistan nuclear bomb - Google Search
- suitcase nuclear bomb - Google Search
- portable nuclear weapons - Google Search
- Suitcase nuclear device - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This Is What It Looks Like When The World's Smallest Nuke Explodes
- Islamic Nuclear Power - Google Search
- Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age - New York Times
- ISIS Nuclear Weapon? Islamic State Claims It Can Buy Nukes From Pakistan Within A Year In Dabiq Propaganda Magazine
- pakistan nuclear bomb - Google Search
- suitcase nuclear bomb - Google Search
- portable nuclear weapons - Google Search
- Suitcase nuclear device - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This Is What It Looks Like When The World's Smallest Nuke Explodes
Polonium-210 and its uses
Litvinenko, The Others And The Inquiry of Jan. 2016
The Players And Dramatis Personae
A. Litvinenko and the trails of Polonium
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- Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Litvinenko Case
- Polonium Poisoning
- Russian Ex-Spy Lived in a World of Deceptions - New York Times
- Confusion envelops Litvinenko even as he goes to the grave | UK news | The Guardian
- Litvinenko
- Litvinenko: A deadly trail of polonium - BBC News
- Alexander Litvinenko: Profile of murdered Russian spy - BBC News
- Alexander Litvinenko: A very Russian poisoning - Telegraph
- Alexander Litvinenko Inquiry: the key players - Telegraph
- Reasons for Litvinenko's conversion to Islam revealed - Wikinews, the free news source
- Aleksandr Litvinenko: An Islamist Threat? | The Jamestown Foundation
- ISCIP - GRU in decline; Basayev and Litvinenko updates
- Litvinenko case exposes Corbyn – POLITICO
- The Case Of Litvinenko - Google Search
- The Trails Of Polonium in Litvinenko death case - Google Search
- Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The Litvinenko Case
- Polonium Poisoning
- Russian Ex-Spy Lived in a World of Deceptions - New York Times
- Confusion envelops Litvinenko even as he goes to the grave | UK news | The Guardian
- Litvinenko
- Litvinenko: A deadly trail of polonium - BBC News
- Alexander Litvinenko: Profile of murdered Russian spy - BBC News
- Alexander Litvinenko: A very Russian poisoning - Telegraph
- Alexander Litvinenko Inquiry: the key players - Telegraph
- Reasons for Litvinenko's conversion to Islam revealed - Wikinews, the free news source
- Aleksandr Litvinenko: An Islamist Threat? | The Jamestown Foundation
- ISCIP - GRU in decline; Basayev and Litvinenko updates
- Litvinenko case exposes Corbyn – POLITICO
- The Case Of Litvinenko - Google Search
- The Trails Of Polonium in Litvinenko death case - Google Search
Alexander Litvinenko inquiry: Friend of murdered spy sent T-shirt threatening him with polonium poisoning: "A friend of Alexander Litvinenko received a T-shirt appearing to threaten him with polonium poisoning four years after the murder of the former spy.
One of Mr Litvinenko's alleged killers sent a T-shirt bearing the words "nuclear death is knocking on your door" to be delivered at the London office of billionaire Boris Berezovsky, the inquiry heard.
Andrei Lugovoi was said to have given the top to an associate in Moscow and asked for it be delivered as a "gift" to Mr Berezovsky, a friend of the poisoned spy, in 2010.
The front of the black T-shirt had the words "POLONIUM-210 CSKA LONDON, HAMBURG To Be Continued", while "CSKA Moscow Nuclear Death Is Knocking Your Door" was printed on the back."
The Russian Intelligence
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- Russian Intelligence - By Stephanie Brophy
- The KGB's Poison Factory - Boris Volodarsky - Google Books
- KGB or Koschei: will the SVR be swallowed by the FSB? | In Moscow's Shadows
- Intelligence: The People Even James Bond Avoids
- CHECHEN REALITY: GRU VS. FSB - ISCIP - Perspective
- Timeline Russia 1996-2006
- gru fsb svr - Google Search
- gru and fsb - Google Search
- Russian Intelligence - By Stephanie Brophy
- The KGB's Poison Factory - Boris Volodarsky - Google Books
- KGB or Koschei: will the SVR be swallowed by the FSB? | In Moscow's Shadows
- Intelligence: The People Even James Bond Avoids
- CHECHEN REALITY: GRU VS. FSB - ISCIP - Perspective
- Timeline Russia 1996-2006
- gru fsb svr - Google Search
- gru and fsb - Google Search
Boris Berezovsky
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- The weird world of Boris Berezovsky: Alexander Litvinenko's inquest has provided an intriguing insight into the dead tycoon | Europe | News | The Independent
- Osama bin Laden -Basayev -Berezovsky -Al Qaeda Terrorists -RFE -3Mar03 - Google Groups
- berezovsky - Google Search
- berezovsky basayev - Google Search
- Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster ... - Paul Klebnikov - Google Books
- litvinenko berezovsky - Google Search
- litvinenko berezovsky chechens - Google Search
- The weird world of Boris Berezovsky: Alexander Litvinenko's inquest has provided an intriguing insight into the dead tycoon | Europe | News | The Independent
- Osama bin Laden -Basayev -Berezovsky -Al Qaeda Terrorists -RFE -3Mar03 - Google Groups
- berezovsky - Google Search
- berezovsky basayev - Google Search
- Godfather of the Kremlin: The Decline of Russia in the Age of Gangster ... - Paul Klebnikov - Google Books
- litvinenko berezovsky - Google Search
- litvinenko berezovsky chechens - Google Search
The Chechens
Litvinenko and The Chechens
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- Litvinenko polonium chechens - Google Search
- litvinenko chechnya - Google Search
- litvinenko was a muslim - Google Search
- zakayev - Google Search
- zakayev and litvinenko - Google Search
- The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder - Alan S. Cowell - Google Books
- zakayev and basayev - Google Search
- Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return ... - Alex Goldfarb, Marina Litvinenko - Google Books
- Chechen warlord’s death a mystery - World news - Europe | NBC News
- chechens gru - Google Search
- gru chechnya - Google Search
- Kadyrov Takes Chechen Special Forces Training to New Heights | The Jamestown Foundation
- chechen special forces - Google Search
- The Secret Battles Between US Forces and Chechen Terrorists - ABC News
- Send in the Chechens: Ramzan Kadyrov Ready to Go to War in Syria
- Litvinenko polonium chechens - Google Search
- litvinenko chechnya - Google Search
- litvinenko was a muslim - Google Search
- zakayev - Google Search
- zakayev and litvinenko - Google Search
- The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder - Alan S. Cowell - Google Books
- zakayev and basayev - Google Search
- Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return ... - Alex Goldfarb, Marina Litvinenko - Google Books
- Chechen warlord’s death a mystery - World news - Europe | NBC News
- chechens gru - Google Search
- gru chechnya - Google Search
- Kadyrov Takes Chechen Special Forces Training to New Heights | The Jamestown Foundation
- chechen special forces - Google Search
- The Secret Battles Between US Forces and Chechen Terrorists - ABC News
- Send in the Chechens: Ramzan Kadyrov Ready to Go to War in Syria
Shamil Basayev
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- Shamil Basayev - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева — Википедия:
- "В ночь на 10 июля 2006 года в Ингушетии на окраине села Экажево близ Назрани взорвался «КамАЗ» с фурой. К вечеру следующего дня было официально объявлено о том, что вместе с «КамАЗом» уничтожен Шамиль Басаев и еще несколько боевиков[20]. Взрыв грузовика с оружием произошел около двух часов ночи. Сила взрыва была такой мощности, что в доме, непосредственно примыкающем к месту происшествия, обрушилась стена, а во многих домах селения были выбиты стёкла. По некоторым данным, совокупная мощность заложенного заряда и сдетонировавшей от его подрыва взрывчатки могла составить до ста килограммов в тротиловом эквиваленте...
- По словам Юрия Муравьева, тела Басаева среди тех самых единственно уцелевших четырех тел боевиков, поддающихся опознанию, обнаружено не было — «в эпицентре горело все, даже металл. Естественно, что ничего не осталось и от тел». Но у чекистов имеются достоверные данные о том, что в составе этой группы находился именно «террорист N 1»[23]. Окончательно опознать тело Басаева удалось только через полгода, после проведения молекулярно-генетической экспертизы[24]."
- Basayev - Google Search
- Басаев, Шамиль Салманович — Википедия
- The Death - Басаев, Шамиль Салманович — Википедия
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева — Википедия
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева - Google Search
- Новости NEWSru.com :: Подробности ликвидации Басаева: пока боевики спали, их сфотографировали и заминировали:
- "Операция выглядит неправдоподобно сложной. Ну зачем, например, дотошно описывать весь груз угнанной машины. Не проще ли было заминировать ее за несколько минут без лишнего риска? Причин для этого может быть много. Скорее всего агент ФСБ проник в окружение Басаева еще на стадии поиска террористом оружия. А значит, контрразведка вполне могла участвовать и в закупке. И тогда съемка необходима для финансового отчета перед лубянской бухгалтерией, которая сурова, как любая бухгалтерия бюджетной организации."
- Что осталось от Шамиля Басаева. Фото - Google Search
- Голову Басаева везли в мешке для мусора // KP.RU
- Что осталось от Шамиля Басаева. Фото | Обозреватель
- "После того как пальцы предполагаемого Басаева удалось отчистить, возникла другая проблема – кожа на подушечках оказалась слишком мягкой и чуть ли не сползала с фаланг чулком, когда пальцы попытались намазать краской. "В трупе по какой-то причине идет процесс отслоения тканей, или мацерации,– объяснил собеседник Ъ.– Это могло произойти из-за того, что горящее тело кто-то пытался затушить – накрыл брезентом или облил пожарной пеной."
- Ekazhevo, Ingushetia - Google Search
- Basayev polonium - Google Search
- Basayev Litvinenko polonium - Google Search
- Basayev and polonium dirty bomb - Google Search
- Basayev polonium bomb - Google Search
- litvinenko basayev - Google Search
- Alexander Litvinenko had come to Chechnya to kill the witnesses of Boris Berezovsky's ties with international terrorist Shamil Basayev
- Revelations multiply in Litvinenko case — RT News
- American-Russian alliance. Russia says Litvinenko visited Chechnya to kill for Berezovsky
- Shamil Basayev - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева — Википедия:
- "В ночь на 10 июля 2006 года в Ингушетии на окраине села Экажево близ Назрани взорвался «КамАЗ» с фурой. К вечеру следующего дня было официально объявлено о том, что вместе с «КамАЗом» уничтожен Шамиль Басаев и еще несколько боевиков[20]. Взрыв грузовика с оружием произошел около двух часов ночи. Сила взрыва была такой мощности, что в доме, непосредственно примыкающем к месту происшествия, обрушилась стена, а во многих домах селения были выбиты стёкла. По некоторым данным, совокупная мощность заложенного заряда и сдетонировавшей от его подрыва взрывчатки могла составить до ста килограммов в тротиловом эквиваленте...
- По словам Юрия Муравьева, тела Басаева среди тех самых единственно уцелевших четырех тел боевиков, поддающихся опознанию, обнаружено не было — «в эпицентре горело все, даже металл. Естественно, что ничего не осталось и от тел». Но у чекистов имеются достоверные данные о том, что в составе этой группы находился именно «террорист N 1»[23]. Окончательно опознать тело Басаева удалось только через полгода, после проведения молекулярно-генетической экспертизы[24]."
- Basayev - Google Search
- Басаев, Шамиль Салманович — Википедия
- The Death - Басаев, Шамиль Салманович — Википедия
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева — Википедия
- Ликвидация Шамиля Басаева - Google Search
- Новости NEWSru.com :: Подробности ликвидации Басаева: пока боевики спали, их сфотографировали и заминировали:
- "Операция выглядит неправдоподобно сложной. Ну зачем, например, дотошно описывать весь груз угнанной машины. Не проще ли было заминировать ее за несколько минут без лишнего риска? Причин для этого может быть много. Скорее всего агент ФСБ проник в окружение Басаева еще на стадии поиска террористом оружия. А значит, контрразведка вполне могла участвовать и в закупке. И тогда съемка необходима для финансового отчета перед лубянской бухгалтерией, которая сурова, как любая бухгалтерия бюджетной организации."
- Что осталось от Шамиля Басаева. Фото - Google Search
- Голову Басаева везли в мешке для мусора // KP.RU
- Что осталось от Шамиля Басаева. Фото | Обозреватель
- "После того как пальцы предполагаемого Басаева удалось отчистить, возникла другая проблема – кожа на подушечках оказалась слишком мягкой и чуть ли не сползала с фаланг чулком, когда пальцы попытались намазать краской. "В трупе по какой-то причине идет процесс отслоения тканей, или мацерации,– объяснил собеседник Ъ.– Это могло произойти из-за того, что горящее тело кто-то пытался затушить – накрыл брезентом или облил пожарной пеной."
- Ekazhevo, Ingushetia - Google Search
- Basayev polonium - Google Search
- Basayev Litvinenko polonium - Google Search
- Basayev and polonium dirty bomb - Google Search
- Basayev polonium bomb - Google Search
- litvinenko basayev - Google Search
- Alexander Litvinenko had come to Chechnya to kill the witnesses of Boris Berezovsky's ties with international terrorist Shamil Basayev
- Revelations multiply in Litvinenko case — RT News
- American-Russian alliance. Russia says Litvinenko visited Chechnya to kill for Berezovsky
The Issues Of Chechen Nuclear Bomb
Yukos and Israel
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- The Yukos Saga’s Comeback Kids - Business - Haaretz
- Leonid Nevzlin is biggest winner from Yukos ruling at The Hague - FT.com
- The Litvinenko File - Martin Sixsmith - Google Books
- Yukos boss spurns Russia murder claims - FT.com
- nevzlin - Google Search
- litvinenko nevzlin - Google Search
- litvinenko israel - Google Search
- Russian-born Businessman: I Met Poisoned Ex-spy Litvinenko in Israel - Haaretz - Israeli News Source Haaretz.com
- The Yukos Saga’s Comeback Kids - Business - Haaretz
- Leonid Nevzlin is biggest winner from Yukos ruling at The Hague - FT.com
- The Litvinenko File - Martin Sixsmith - Google Books
- Yukos boss spurns Russia murder claims - FT.com
- nevzlin - Google Search
- litvinenko nevzlin - Google Search
- litvinenko israel - Google Search
- Russian-born Businessman: I Met Poisoned Ex-spy Litvinenko in Israel - Haaretz - Israeli News Source Haaretz.com
Other Players and "Dramatis Personae"
The Litvinenko Inquiry and Other Investigations
The Basics
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- The Litvinenko Inquiry
- The Report - Litvinenko Inquiry
- https://www.litvinenkoinquiry.org/files/Litvinenko-Inquiry-Report-web-version.pdf
- Evidence
- Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Дело Литвиненко — Википедия
- Дело Литвиненко — Википедия
- The Litvinenko Inquiry
- The Report - Litvinenko Inquiry
- https://www.litvinenkoinquiry.org/files/Litvinenko-Inquiry-Report-web-version.pdf
- Evidence
- Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Дело Литвиненко — Википедия
- Дело Литвиненко — Википедия
Litvinenko Inquiry - 1.22.16 - Press Coverage
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- Litvinenko inquiry: What do we know? - BBC News
- The Guardian view on the Litvinenko inquiry: a price must be paid in Moscow | Editorial | Opinion | The Guardian
- Putin ‘Probably Approved’ Litvinenko Poisoning, British Inquiry Says - The New York Times
- Mr. Putin and the Poisonous London Tea Party - The New York Times
- Getting Away With Murder in London - Haaretz - Israeli News Source Haaretz.com
- Britain summons Russian envoy to protest killing of ex-KGB spy in London | intelNews.org
- Litvinenko isn't the only Putin critic who ended up dead | GlobalPost
- The horrifying story of another Putin enemy mysteriously poisoned two years before Litvenenko murder
- Litvinenko inquiry: What do we know? - BBC News
- The Guardian view on the Litvinenko inquiry: a price must be paid in Moscow | Editorial | Opinion | The Guardian
- Putin ‘Probably Approved’ Litvinenko Poisoning, British Inquiry Says - The New York Times
- Mr. Putin and the Poisonous London Tea Party - The New York Times
- Getting Away With Murder in London - Haaretz - Israeli News Source Haaretz.com
- Britain summons Russian envoy to protest killing of ex-KGB spy in London | intelNews.org
- Litvinenko isn't the only Putin critic who ended up dead | GlobalPost
- The horrifying story of another Putin enemy mysteriously poisoned two years before Litvenenko murder
The Explanatory Theories
Alexander Litvinenko assassination theories - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Who Done It?
-
-
-
- Key findings: who killed Alexander Litvinenko, how and why | World news | The Guardian
- WikiLeaks cables: Alexander Litvinenko murder 'probably had Putin's OK' | World news | The Guardian
- How Radioactive Poison Became the Assassin’s Weapon of Choice — Matter — Medium
- Murder on the Polonium Express | Alternet
- PERFECT MURDER | Region Plus
- MI6 Bitch | Sean's Russia Blog
- Key findings: who killed Alexander Litvinenko, how and why | World news | The Guardian
- WikiLeaks cables: Alexander Litvinenko murder 'probably had Putin's OK' | World news | The Guardian
- How Radioactive Poison Became the Assassin’s Weapon of Choice — Matter — Medium
- Murder on the Polonium Express | Alternet
- PERFECT MURDER | Region Plus
- MI6 Bitch | Sean's Russia Blog
Dramatis Personae: The Accused
-
-
-
- Litvinenko suspects Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - BBC News
- Litvinenko accused Andrei Lugovoi dismisses 'nonsense' inquiry - BBC News
- Litvinenko inquiry told Dmitry Kovtun planned to lure him to 'finish him off' | World news | The Guardian
- Suspect Wanted to 'Set Example' by Killing Former Spy Litvinenko - Witness
- UK Litvinenko death inquiry ‘biased, very politicized’ – Russian ambassador to RT — RT News
- Litvinenko inquiry: Key suspect 'cannot testify' - BBC News:
- "Dmitry Kovtun - who told me in an interview earlier this year that he had once been a member of the Russian army intelligence corps - had claimed he wanted to testify at the inquiry to refute much of the evidence linking him and the other chief suspect, Andrei Lugovoi, to the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
- He also said he wanted to get access to the key documents which are made available to all core participants.
- Sources close to the inquiry say Mr Kovtun will have been able to see sensitive documents, including some which have not been made public.
- It's not clear yet how significant this could be, but it had been one of the main concerns about letting Mr Kovtun become a core participant."
- Dmitry Kovtun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- kovtun dmitriy - Google Search
- Ковтун, Дмитрий Владимирович — Википедия
- До встреч с Литвиненко Ковтун хотел сниматься в порно - BBC Русская служба
- Litvinenko suspects Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - BBC News
- Litvinenko accused Andrei Lugovoi dismisses 'nonsense' inquiry - BBC News
- Litvinenko inquiry told Dmitry Kovtun planned to lure him to 'finish him off' | World news | The Guardian
- Suspect Wanted to 'Set Example' by Killing Former Spy Litvinenko - Witness
- UK Litvinenko death inquiry ‘biased, very politicized’ – Russian ambassador to RT — RT News
- Litvinenko inquiry: Key suspect 'cannot testify' - BBC News:
- "Dmitry Kovtun - who told me in an interview earlier this year that he had once been a member of the Russian army intelligence corps - had claimed he wanted to testify at the inquiry to refute much of the evidence linking him and the other chief suspect, Andrei Lugovoi, to the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.
- He also said he wanted to get access to the key documents which are made available to all core participants.
- Sources close to the inquiry say Mr Kovtun will have been able to see sensitive documents, including some which have not been made public.
- It's not clear yet how significant this could be, but it had been one of the main concerns about letting Mr Kovtun become a core participant."
- Dmitry Kovtun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- kovtun dmitriy - Google Search
- Ковтун, Дмитрий Владимирович — Википедия
- До встреч с Литвиненко Ковтун хотел сниматься в порно - BBC Русская служба
Russian Investigations
US (FBI) Investigation
Other, including Israeli Investigations and Press Coverage
- _______________________________________________
- Some Notable Excerpts from Litvinenko Inquiry: "nuclear suitcase bomb"
PP. 32-33
3.110 The second of Mr Litvinenko’s very close friends was Akhmed Zakayev. Mr Zakayev
arrived in London in 2002 and claimed asylum. Like Mr Litvinenko, he was supported
by Mr Berezovsky. Mr Zakayev was introduced to Mr Litvinenko by Mr Berezovsky,
and Mr Zakayev subsequently chose to live with his family in a house very close to the
Litvinenko’s house in Muswell Hill. As Mr Zakayev put it in evidence, “Chechen people
first choose the neighbour and then they buy the house. That’s exactly what I did.”
He said that the two families became “very, very big friends, very close friends”, who
would see each other almost every day.94 Again, it is clear to me that his friendship with
Mr Zakayev was an important influence on Mr Litvinenko’s life in the years between
2002 and 2006. It was during this period, and no doubt a result of this friendship, that
Mr Litvinenko became increasingly committed to the Chechen cause, a cause for
which he campaigned publicly. On a more personal level, Mr Litvinenko decided at
the end of his life to convert to Islam, a process that Mr Zakayev arranged for him on
his deathbed.
PP.55-56
First, in 2003, MrLitvinenko was one of those in MrBerezovsky’s entourage who became
involved with a man named Mr Terluk. Mr Litvinenko made a lengthy contemporaneous
statement about these events for the purposes of Mr Berezovsky’s asylum appeal,
which I have admitted into evidence.19 According to that statement, Mr Terluk claimed
in 2003 to have been instructed by an official from the Russian Embassy in London
to conduct what appeared to have been some form of reconnaissance exercise for
a possible attempt to assassinate Mr Berezovsky, perhaps by poisoning him. I am
aware that, in more recent years, Mr Terluk has given a very different version of these
events, which was the subject of contested defamation proceedings in the High Court
in London.20 I should make it clear that, whilst I have read and taken into account
the findings of Mr Justice Eady in the defamation proceedings, I have not sought to
investigate the true facts of this episode, which are highly contentious and of only
peripheral importance to my Terms of Reference.
4.26 The second incident that I have in mind took place in October 2004, when the houses
of both Mr Litvinenko and Mr Zakayev were firebombed, apparently by two Chechen
men who were in dispute with Mr Berezovsky. The evidence that I have about this
episode, which is limited, suggests that the dispute had arisen over a payment that
one of the Chechen men claimed he was owed for a trip to Paris, which he said he
had made at Mr Berezovsky’s request, in connection with a deal relating to the plans
for a ‘nuclear suitcase bomb’. Prior to the firebombing of his house, Mr Litvinenko had
been attempting to mediate on Mr Berezovsky’s behalf.21
4.27 As with the Terluk episode, I am not in a position to make any findings as to the rights
and wrongs of this episode, which took place more than ten years ago. I refer to the
two incidents because they do perhaps give a flavour of the life that Mr Litvinenko was
living, and the risks that he was running, as a member of Mr Berezovsky’s entourage
during this period.
PP.62-63
4.55 I have referred to Mr Litvinenko’s growing sympathy for the Chechen cause, which
appears to have started with his experiences in the First Chechen War, and developed
as a result of his friendship with Mr Zakayev following his arrival in London. The
evidence is that he took up issues related to Chechen independence and the conduct
of the Russian authorities in resisting it, and indeed much of his campaigning work
from London was done via the medium of the Chechenpress website.57
4.56 Beyond that, Mr Zakayev gave evidence that, at his request, both Mr Litvinenko and
Ms Politkovskaya served on a War Crimes Commission that had been established
under his chairmanship in 2004 by Chechnya’s President Maskhadov. Mr Zakayev
explained that both took an active part in the Committee’s work of attempting to
gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Chechnya. Mr Zakayev’s evidence was
that the fact that Mr Litvinenko and Ms Politkovskaya were serving on the Committee
was public knowledge, and that, in his view, the Russian military and FSB would
have been “afraid” that they might have faced charges in an international war crimes
tribunal as a result of the Committee’s work.58
P.70
4.85 The information that Mr Litvinenko gave to Mr Scaramella included some on what
might be thought to have been particularly sensitive topics. I will give two examples.
4.86 First, Mr Litvinenko made various claims to Mr Scaramella about a man called Semion
Mogilevich. The written closing submissions served on behalf of Marina Litvinenko
describe Mr Mogilevich as: “one of Russia’s most notorious [Organised Crime Group]
leaders. … It is said he is responsible for contract killings and smuggling weapons.” 84
Mr Mogilevich was, at least at one stage, one of the FBI’s most wanted men.85
I have seen the text of a speech given by the US Attorney General in 2008 in which
Mr Mogilevich is said to have, “exert[ed] influence over large portions of the natural
gas industry in parts of what used to be the Soviet Union.” 86
4.87 Mr Litvinenko passed on to Mr Scaramella information about Mr Mogilevich that he
said had emerged from the transcription of the Kuchma tapes. Mr Litvinenko told
Mr Scaramella that Mr Mogilevich (whom he described as a “well known criminalterrorist”
) was. “in a good relationship with Russian President Putin and most senior
officials of the Russian Federation”; that Mr Mogilevich and President Putin had,
“a common cause, in my understanding a criminal cause” ; that Mr Mogilevich was
an arms dealer who was selling weapons to Al-Qaeda; and that he knew: “beyond
doubt that Mogilevich is FSB’s long-standing agent and all his actions including the
contacts with Al-Qaeda are controlled by FSB … For this very reason the FSB is
hiding Mogilevich from FBI.” These allegations were contained in a written statement
that Mr Litvinenko sent by fax to the offices of the Mitrokhin Commission.87
PP.90-91
5.22 But as I have already indicated, that is not the end of the matter. Professor Service,
rightly in my view, identified a further consideration. Even if the strict terms of the 2006
laws could not be brought to bear against Mr Litvinenko, can it be said that they had a
subtler, less formal effect of encouraging, or emboldening, or even licensing the FSB
to take action against Mr Litvinenko and others like him?
5.23 Professor Service helpfully put the 2006 laws into their historical context. He referred in
particular to the public outrage in Russia following the killing of five Russian diplomats
by a Chechen supporting terrorist group in Iraq, and also to FSB claims in July 2006
that it had been responsible for the explosion in Ingushetia that had killed Shamil
Basayev, a leading Chechen terrorist.
5.24 Against this backdrop, Professor Service expressed the view that the 2006 amendment
to the anti-extremist law had an influence going beyond the scope of its black letter
provisions. In his report he put the matter in this way:
“The amendment did, however, have a political consequence of importance
by broadening the spectrum of targets to be pursued by the security agencies.
Not only out-and-out terrorists were mentioned but ‘extremists’ in general, and
extremism itself was described only in relation to imprecisely delineated categories
of activity. The door was left open to brand a large swathe of opponents of Putin
and his administration as extremists who needed to be eliminated. And terrorism
and extremism were frequently mentioned in the same breath by Putin and his
ministers. There was little attempt to make an official distinction between the two
phenomena that the legislation was directed against. To that extent, there was an
implicit licensing package for FSB operations abroad as well as in Russia.” 12
P.95
5.36 The accounts that Mr Lugovoy has given raise a straightforward factual issue upon
which, at least to an extent, his broader allegations of blackmail and complicity in
murder all rest. That factual issue concerns Mr Litvinenko’s reaction to the reduction
in the payments that Mr Berezovsky was making to him that, as we have already seen,
took place in early or mid 2006. What was Mr Litvinenko’s reaction to the reduction
in payments? Did the two men argue? Was Mr Litvinenko upset, and if so was he
sufficiently upset to contemplate blackmailing his old friend?
P.102
5.65 Is it possible that the Ivanov report triggered Mr Litvinenko’s killing, or at least had
some connection with it? One obvious difficulty with this theory is that, on Mr Shvets’
evidence, Mr Lugovoy only received the report a few weeks before what appears
to have been the first attempt to poison Mr Litvinenko. Mr Shvets was asked about
this, but was not shaken from his “positive” belief that the Ivanov report triggered
an operation to murder Mr Litvinenko. His reasoning, as he explained it to me, was
that such an operation could have been mounted quickly since the Russian security
agencies already had access to, and experience in the use of, polonium, as well
as inside knowledge of Mr Berezovsky’s office, and Mr Lugovoy had easy access
to Mr Litvinenko. He believed it to be credible, therefore, that the planning for
Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning had not started until September (and presumably, on his
reasoning, the end of September) 2006.57 He concluded:
“… look, before Sasha was poisoned, he had lived in London for several years,
and over this period, he was consistent in making statements, critical statements,
against Putin… some of this criticism was very insulting, very personal, and still
Sasha was alive. Nothing happened. He was alive and well. And suddenly he was
poisoned. So it leads me to believe that we should be looking for something which
happened shortly before he was poisoned. Something changed in his life-style
shortly before he was poisoned, and what changes? It was the fact that he was
fired by Boris Berezovsky, it was the fact that he got involved in other business
activities, which leads to the report, et cetera.” 58
5.66 In his oral closing submissions on behalf of Marina Litvinenko, Mr Emmerson QC
described Mr Litvinenko’s action in giving a copy of the Shvets Ivanov report to
Mr Lugovoy as “a fatal mistake”. Mr Emmerson suggested that a similar significance
could be placed on the fact that Mr Lugovoy knew from his dealings at RISC that
Mr Litvinenko had been tasked with investigating Mr Gordeyev, who was, in his words,
“a high-ranking official in the Russian government”. Mr Emmerson submitted that from
the moment Mr Litvinenko gave Mr Lugovoy a copy of the Ivanov report:59
P.103
“Lugovoy not only knew that Litvinenko had been tasked to produce a devastating
report on Alexei Gordeyev, and that he had been tasked to produce a devastating
report which implicated both Ivanov and Putin directly in organised crime, but he
had a copy of the report in his hands. It can hardly be a coincidence… that two
months later it was Lugovoy who was chosen to be the man to kill Mr Litvinenko.
The direct and immediate link to Putin and the Kremlin is just too obvious to ignore.”
P.212
9.24 It follows from this short summary that a theory that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun killed
Mr Litvinenko on the orders of one or more members of Russian crime gangs would
not be implausible.
9.25 That theory, however, is not supported by the evidence that is available to me.
Detective Inspector (DI) Mascall stated that the police investigation has not uncovered
any evidence linking Mr Mogilevich directly to the poisoning.3 More broadly, none of
the evidence suggests that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun were commissioned to kill
Mr Litvinenko by members of crime gangs. More than that, I am satisfied for reasons
that I shall describe below that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun in fact received their
instructions from another source.
P.213
9.32 The List of Issues was drawn up at an early stage of the inquest proceedings, and
adopted with only a few changes for the purposes of the Inquiry. As the case developed,
it became apparent that there was no evidence to support the suggestion that either
Chechen groups or Mr Talik had been involved in Mr Litvinenko’s death.
3.110 The second of Mr Litvinenko’s very close friends was Akhmed Zakayev. Mr Zakayev
arrived in London in 2002 and claimed asylum. Like Mr Litvinenko, he was supported
by Mr Berezovsky. Mr Zakayev was introduced to Mr Litvinenko by Mr Berezovsky,
and Mr Zakayev subsequently chose to live with his family in a house very close to the
Litvinenko’s house in Muswell Hill. As Mr Zakayev put it in evidence, “Chechen people
first choose the neighbour and then they buy the house. That’s exactly what I did.”
He said that the two families became “very, very big friends, very close friends”, who
would see each other almost every day.94 Again, it is clear to me that his friendship with
Mr Zakayev was an important influence on Mr Litvinenko’s life in the years between
2002 and 2006. It was during this period, and no doubt a result of this friendship, that
Mr Litvinenko became increasingly committed to the Chechen cause, a cause for
which he campaigned publicly. On a more personal level, Mr Litvinenko decided at
the end of his life to convert to Islam, a process that Mr Zakayev arranged for him on
his deathbed.
PP.55-56
First, in 2003, MrLitvinenko was one of those in MrBerezovsky’s entourage who became
involved with a man named Mr Terluk. Mr Litvinenko made a lengthy contemporaneous
statement about these events for the purposes of Mr Berezovsky’s asylum appeal,
which I have admitted into evidence.19 According to that statement, Mr Terluk claimed
in 2003 to have been instructed by an official from the Russian Embassy in London
to conduct what appeared to have been some form of reconnaissance exercise for
a possible attempt to assassinate Mr Berezovsky, perhaps by poisoning him. I am
aware that, in more recent years, Mr Terluk has given a very different version of these
events, which was the subject of contested defamation proceedings in the High Court
in London.20 I should make it clear that, whilst I have read and taken into account
the findings of Mr Justice Eady in the defamation proceedings, I have not sought to
investigate the true facts of this episode, which are highly contentious and of only
peripheral importance to my Terms of Reference.
4.26 The second incident that I have in mind took place in October 2004, when the houses
of both Mr Litvinenko and Mr Zakayev were firebombed, apparently by two Chechen
men who were in dispute with Mr Berezovsky. The evidence that I have about this
episode, which is limited, suggests that the dispute had arisen over a payment that
one of the Chechen men claimed he was owed for a trip to Paris, which he said he
had made at Mr Berezovsky’s request, in connection with a deal relating to the plans
for a ‘nuclear suitcase bomb’. Prior to the firebombing of his house, Mr Litvinenko had
been attempting to mediate on Mr Berezovsky’s behalf.21
4.27 As with the Terluk episode, I am not in a position to make any findings as to the rights
and wrongs of this episode, which took place more than ten years ago. I refer to the
two incidents because they do perhaps give a flavour of the life that Mr Litvinenko was
living, and the risks that he was running, as a member of Mr Berezovsky’s entourage
during this period.
PP.62-63
4.55 I have referred to Mr Litvinenko’s growing sympathy for the Chechen cause, which
appears to have started with his experiences in the First Chechen War, and developed
as a result of his friendship with Mr Zakayev following his arrival in London. The
evidence is that he took up issues related to Chechen independence and the conduct
of the Russian authorities in resisting it, and indeed much of his campaigning work
from London was done via the medium of the Chechenpress website.57
4.56 Beyond that, Mr Zakayev gave evidence that, at his request, both Mr Litvinenko and
Ms Politkovskaya served on a War Crimes Commission that had been established
under his chairmanship in 2004 by Chechnya’s President Maskhadov. Mr Zakayev
explained that both took an active part in the Committee’s work of attempting to
gather evidence of Russian war crimes in Chechnya. Mr Zakayev’s evidence was
that the fact that Mr Litvinenko and Ms Politkovskaya were serving on the Committee
was public knowledge, and that, in his view, the Russian military and FSB would
have been “afraid” that they might have faced charges in an international war crimes
tribunal as a result of the Committee’s work.58
P.70
4.85 The information that Mr Litvinenko gave to Mr Scaramella included some on what
might be thought to have been particularly sensitive topics. I will give two examples.
4.86 First, Mr Litvinenko made various claims to Mr Scaramella about a man called Semion
Mogilevich. The written closing submissions served on behalf of Marina Litvinenko
describe Mr Mogilevich as: “one of Russia’s most notorious [Organised Crime Group]
leaders. … It is said he is responsible for contract killings and smuggling weapons.” 84
Mr Mogilevich was, at least at one stage, one of the FBI’s most wanted men.85
I have seen the text of a speech given by the US Attorney General in 2008 in which
Mr Mogilevich is said to have, “exert[ed] influence over large portions of the natural
gas industry in parts of what used to be the Soviet Union.” 86
4.87 Mr Litvinenko passed on to Mr Scaramella information about Mr Mogilevich that he
said had emerged from the transcription of the Kuchma tapes. Mr Litvinenko told
Mr Scaramella that Mr Mogilevich (whom he described as a “well known criminalterrorist”
) was. “in a good relationship with Russian President Putin and most senior
officials of the Russian Federation”; that Mr Mogilevich and President Putin had,
“a common cause, in my understanding a criminal cause” ; that Mr Mogilevich was
an arms dealer who was selling weapons to Al-Qaeda; and that he knew: “beyond
doubt that Mogilevich is FSB’s long-standing agent and all his actions including the
contacts with Al-Qaeda are controlled by FSB … For this very reason the FSB is
hiding Mogilevich from FBI.” These allegations were contained in a written statement
that Mr Litvinenko sent by fax to the offices of the Mitrokhin Commission.87
PP.90-91
5.22 But as I have already indicated, that is not the end of the matter. Professor Service,
rightly in my view, identified a further consideration. Even if the strict terms of the 2006
laws could not be brought to bear against Mr Litvinenko, can it be said that they had a
subtler, less formal effect of encouraging, or emboldening, or even licensing the FSB
to take action against Mr Litvinenko and others like him?
5.23 Professor Service helpfully put the 2006 laws into their historical context. He referred in
particular to the public outrage in Russia following the killing of five Russian diplomats
by a Chechen supporting terrorist group in Iraq, and also to FSB claims in July 2006
that it had been responsible for the explosion in Ingushetia that had killed Shamil
Basayev, a leading Chechen terrorist.
5.24 Against this backdrop, Professor Service expressed the view that the 2006 amendment
to the anti-extremist law had an influence going beyond the scope of its black letter
provisions. In his report he put the matter in this way:
“The amendment did, however, have a political consequence of importance
by broadening the spectrum of targets to be pursued by the security agencies.
Not only out-and-out terrorists were mentioned but ‘extremists’ in general, and
extremism itself was described only in relation to imprecisely delineated categories
of activity. The door was left open to brand a large swathe of opponents of Putin
and his administration as extremists who needed to be eliminated. And terrorism
and extremism were frequently mentioned in the same breath by Putin and his
ministers. There was little attempt to make an official distinction between the two
phenomena that the legislation was directed against. To that extent, there was an
implicit licensing package for FSB operations abroad as well as in Russia.” 12
P.95
5.36 The accounts that Mr Lugovoy has given raise a straightforward factual issue upon
which, at least to an extent, his broader allegations of blackmail and complicity in
murder all rest. That factual issue concerns Mr Litvinenko’s reaction to the reduction
in the payments that Mr Berezovsky was making to him that, as we have already seen,
took place in early or mid 2006. What was Mr Litvinenko’s reaction to the reduction
in payments? Did the two men argue? Was Mr Litvinenko upset, and if so was he
sufficiently upset to contemplate blackmailing his old friend?
P.102
5.65 Is it possible that the Ivanov report triggered Mr Litvinenko’s killing, or at least had
some connection with it? One obvious difficulty with this theory is that, on Mr Shvets’
evidence, Mr Lugovoy only received the report a few weeks before what appears
to have been the first attempt to poison Mr Litvinenko. Mr Shvets was asked about
this, but was not shaken from his “positive” belief that the Ivanov report triggered
an operation to murder Mr Litvinenko. His reasoning, as he explained it to me, was
that such an operation could have been mounted quickly since the Russian security
agencies already had access to, and experience in the use of, polonium, as well
as inside knowledge of Mr Berezovsky’s office, and Mr Lugovoy had easy access
to Mr Litvinenko. He believed it to be credible, therefore, that the planning for
Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning had not started until September (and presumably, on his
reasoning, the end of September) 2006.57 He concluded:
“… look, before Sasha was poisoned, he had lived in London for several years,
and over this period, he was consistent in making statements, critical statements,
against Putin… some of this criticism was very insulting, very personal, and still
Sasha was alive. Nothing happened. He was alive and well. And suddenly he was
poisoned. So it leads me to believe that we should be looking for something which
happened shortly before he was poisoned. Something changed in his life-style
shortly before he was poisoned, and what changes? It was the fact that he was
fired by Boris Berezovsky, it was the fact that he got involved in other business
activities, which leads to the report, et cetera.” 58
5.66 In his oral closing submissions on behalf of Marina Litvinenko, Mr Emmerson QC
described Mr Litvinenko’s action in giving a copy of the Shvets Ivanov report to
Mr Lugovoy as “a fatal mistake”. Mr Emmerson suggested that a similar significance
could be placed on the fact that Mr Lugovoy knew from his dealings at RISC that
Mr Litvinenko had been tasked with investigating Mr Gordeyev, who was, in his words,
“a high-ranking official in the Russian government”. Mr Emmerson submitted that from
the moment Mr Litvinenko gave Mr Lugovoy a copy of the Ivanov report:59
P.103
“Lugovoy not only knew that Litvinenko had been tasked to produce a devastating
report on Alexei Gordeyev, and that he had been tasked to produce a devastating
report which implicated both Ivanov and Putin directly in organised crime, but he
had a copy of the report in his hands. It can hardly be a coincidence… that two
months later it was Lugovoy who was chosen to be the man to kill Mr Litvinenko.
The direct and immediate link to Putin and the Kremlin is just too obvious to ignore.”
P.212
9.24 It follows from this short summary that a theory that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun killed
Mr Litvinenko on the orders of one or more members of Russian crime gangs would
not be implausible.
9.25 That theory, however, is not supported by the evidence that is available to me.
Detective Inspector (DI) Mascall stated that the police investigation has not uncovered
any evidence linking Mr Mogilevich directly to the poisoning.3 More broadly, none of
the evidence suggests that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun were commissioned to kill
Mr Litvinenko by members of crime gangs. More than that, I am satisfied for reasons
that I shall describe below that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun in fact received their
instructions from another source.
P.213
9.32 The List of Issues was drawn up at an early stage of the inquest proceedings, and
adopted with only a few changes for the purposes of the Inquiry. As the case developed,
it became apparent that there was no evidence to support the suggestion that either
Chechen groups or Mr Talik had been involved in Mr Litvinenko’s death.
__________________________________________
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