Litvinenko inquest: Poisoning death of ex-KGB spy a ‘global concern’

A long-awaited public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko began in London on Tuesday, nine years after the former KGB spy died after drinking tea poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope in the British capital.

From his deathbed, Kremlin-critic Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder, and British authorities say there is evidence to charge two ex–KGB agents over his death.

Russia has always denied any involvement.

"The issues to which Mr. Litvinenko's death gave rise are of the utmost gravity and have attracted worldwide interest and concern," said chairman Robert Owen at the launch of the inquiry at London's High Court.

British police believe Litvinenko was poisoned with tea laced with the rare isotope polonium-210 at the Pine Bar of the Millennium hotel in central London in November 2006, where he was meeting former Russian spies Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun.

He died three weeks later. Owen has said secret British government evidence provided a "prima facie" case of Russian culpability.

Addressing the inquiry, he said the killing had been described as "a miniature nuclear attack on the streets of London" and "state-sponsored assassination by radioactive poisoning."

The controversy generated by the killing chilled Anglo-Russian relations to a post-Cold War low.

As ties improved, Britain rejected holding an inquiry in 2013, admitting the relationship with Russia was a factor but not a decisive one. However, with relations subsequently soured by the Ukraine crisis, the British government changed its mind and gave the go-ahead for the inquiry in July.

Russia has rejected British attempts to extradite Lugovoy and Kovtun, and Owen said they have been invited to give evidence by video link from Russia.

Robin Tam, the lawyer for the inquiry, said that Litvinenko had no chance of surviving the amount of polonium he ingested and that his poisoning led to fears many thousands of people in London had also been contaminated.

Though Litvinenko blamed Russia, there were other theories as to who was behind his death, from the British government and his former friend Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky to suggestions he accidentally poisoned himself during an illegal smuggling deal or even killed himself.

"For some of these theories, there is considerable supporting evidence, for others, less, and for yet others, none at all," Tam said.

Litvinenko's wife, Marina Litvinenko, has said she believes the inquiry will finally shed light on how her husband died as well as on his work for the British foreign spy agency, MI6.

Reuters