Russia ‘backed Litvinenko murder’

BBC
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko was carried out with the backing of the Russian state, Whitehall sources have told the BBC.

A senior security official told Newsnight there were “very strong indications it was a state action”.

Mr Litvinenko, who was a fierce critic of former Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned in London in 2006.

UK investigators suspect former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of the murder, but he has always denied any involvement.

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The BBC has been told that Russia’s internal security organisation, the FSB, operated under Mr Putin with far more autonomy than the organisations usually entrusted with foreign espionage operations.

Our source said: “We very strongly believe the Litvinenko case to have had some state involvement.”

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Newsnight has also learned that officers at MI5 believe they thwarted an attempt last summer to kill another Russian dissident, Boris Berezovsky.

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