One of the main suspects of the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexandre Litvinenko has died

Entrepreneur Dmitri Kovtun, accused by London of poisoning e caused the death of former spy Alexandre Litvinenko in 2006died this week in Russia from a Covid-19 related disease,

To break the news was Andrei Lugovoi, deputy and friend of Kovtun. It is also another of those identified for the death of the spy. “Bad news, my dear and faithful friend Dmitri Kovtun died suddenly as a result of a serious coronavirus-related illness, “the member of the lower house of the Russian parliament said on his Telegram account.

The state news agency TASS, citing a close friend of the deceased, claimed that Dmitri Kovtun died in a Moscow hospital.

In September 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Russia “responsible” for the murder of Alexandre Litvinenko, poisoned with polonium-210 in the UK in 2006decision denounced by Moscow

The ECHR ruled that there was “a strong presumption” that the perpetrators of the poisoning designated by the British investigations, Dmitri Kovtun and Andreï Lugovoi, “had acted as agents of the Russian state”

As was the case with the poisoned spy

Former KGB and later FSB agent Alexandre Litvinenko was expelled from the Russian security services for unverifiable reasons. He was granted asylum in the UK in 2001and continued to expose Russian intelligence corruption and alleged links to organized crime.

According to the British, Lugovoy and Kovtun met him at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London, and without his noticing. a heavy dose of “polonium 210” was slipped into his teacupa deadly radioactive element.

The Russian lieutenant colonel, who was 43 at the time, He was dying for three weeks in a London hospital. until his death. In the months preceding the poisoning he was said to have also been investigating the murder of journalist Anna Politkóvskaya and other cases of murder and torture in Chechnya.

Prosecutors in the case identified Lugovoy as the prime suspect in the crime, but Russia has consistently refused to extradite him to the UK for questioning. According to Davies, an examination of confidential material provided by the British government “established a prima facie case for the fault of the Russian state on the death of Alexander Litvinenko ”. Lugovoy currently has a seat in the Russian parliament and enjoys immunity.

According to the Scotland Yard investigation, more than $ 10 million was spent at that time on the dose of the radioactive isotope with which the secret agent poisoned himself.

“The results of the preliminary autopsy on the former KGB agent suggest that he was given more than 10 times the lethal doseof polonium, the researchers told The Times newspaper.

A dose of polonium enough to kill a man represents 15,000 units at a cost of $ 69 each, according to the paper. The figure in the former agent’s body cost at least $ 10 million, according to the same source

For the researchers, those responsible for the agent’s poisoning wanted to make sure he didn’t survive in any way. In this case, one of the two indicated took the secret to the grave.