Findings of alexander litvinenko inquiry due to be published

The murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 was “probably” approved by President Vladimir Putin, a public inquiry has concluded.

“You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life”, said Litvinenko in his death bed.

The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s death. At the day of the murder, Litvinenko was drinking tea at the hotel with Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, the ones suspected of administering the poison.

Ben Emmerson, the lawyer for Litvinenko’s widow Marina, called Putin a “tinpot despot” at the inquiry and said Russian Federation had a history of political assassinations.

Litvinenko’s body was so radioactive that the autopsy was conducted by medics in protective clothing and ventilation hoods.

The Russian was a fierce critic of the Kremlin.

Owen heard from 62 witnesses over six months of public hearings and – behind closed doors – saw secret intelligence evidence about Litvinenko and his links to United Kingdom spy agencies.

The report will be sent to Cameron on Tuesday before it is published on Thursday, and Foreign Office officials have asked him to exercise restraint in the likely event that Russian state security services are implicated in the killing.

In the years that followed Mr Litvinenko’s death, the case attracted an avalanche of claims and theories and threatened to plunge Anglo-Russian relations into crisis.

A finding of direct involvement in the killing by senior Russians could cause a further deterioration. Russia, its economy hurt by low oil prices, would like to see an end to sanctions.

Sutyagin said he expected Britain would consider the report itself as sending out a message to the Kremlin. He died three weeks later in a London hospital.

Lough noted that Putin allegedly once told a Russian journalist “that he distinguished between enemies and traitors”.