Businessman Dmitry Kovtun, whom British authorities convicted of poisoning former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium, has died at the age of 58. According to State Duma deputy Andrei Lugovoi, the cause of death was the consequences of the coronavirus.
“The sad news came today that as a result of a serious illness associated with a coronavirus infection, my close and faithful friend Dmitry Kovtun died suddenly. This is an irreplaceable and heavy loss for us. From the bottom of my heart, I convey my deepest condolences to all friends and relatives of Dima, ”Wrote Lugovoy.
According to a TASS source, the businessman died in a hospital in Moscow.
Murder of Litvinenko
In 1998, Litvinenko and several other FSB officers made it clear that they had been ordered by their superiors to kill oligarch Boris Berezovsky. He left Russia in 2000 (many criminal cases had been brought against him by this time) and moved to England, where he took political asylum. There, Litvinenko collaborated with the British, Spanish and Italian intelligence services.
The former FSB official stressed that he is openly living and not trying to hide it. “I do not hire bodyguards for my protection, I do not hide in different apartments, as they say, a running lieutenant colonel or fugitive. I did not run away from anyone, I left Russia legally with my passport, I live in the open, all journalists can find me, they know where I live. So guys, if you come to kill me in person in England, you will have to do it openly,” he said in an interview in the summer of 2006.
On the night of November 23, 2006, Litvinenko’s health deteriorated sharply. This happened after a meeting with his former colleagues Lugovoi and Kovtun in one of their London hotels. He died the same day in a hospital in London. According to Scotland Yard, Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210.
Both Lugovoi and Kovtun denied all accusations of Litvinenko’s death. The latter has repeatedly stated that he is ready to present proof of his innocence. Lugovoi noted that it was “used” to divert attention from the real killers.
Kovtun described the evidence as “manufactured”. “I had nothing to do with Litvinenko’s death. As for the report published in London on the results of the open trial, Robert Owen was unable to draw any further conclusions based on false, fabricated evidence.”
In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Lugovoy and Kovtun’s guilt in Litvinenko’s death was beyond doubt. Russian authorities ordered to pay € 100,000 to the widow of Marina Litvinenko. In the ECHR’s decision, it was stated that the Russian Federation was unable to conduct a proper investigation and that the Russian authorities were unable to provide a “satisfactory and credible explanation” for the murder.
The Kremlin called the British investigators’ conclusions “superficial and very unprofessional” and refused to abide by the court order. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office noted that London’s statements regarding Lugovoi and Kovtun’s involvement in the poisoning were denied by the Hamburg prosecutor’s office and the investigation in the Russian Federation. According to the GP, Polonius was in London even before Lugovoi got there.
British television channel ITV is shooting a series about Litvinenko’s poisoning. The film follows Scotland Yard employees who have been trying to solve the murder of a former FSB official for 10 years. The movie was directed by Field Smith and written by George Kay. Marina Litvinenko will be played by actress Margarita Levieva, and Litvinenko will be played by David Tennant.
What did Kovtun do?
Kovtun met Lugovoi while studying at the Moscow Higher Military Command School. After graduation, he served first in Czechoslovakia, then in the GDR, and then moved to Hamburg with his German wife. There he was granted political asylum.
On December 9, 2006, German police reported that they found traces of radiation at Kovtun’s ex-wife’s home and her mother-in-law’s home, which she visited between October 28 and November 1. against Kovtun Launched criminal case on suspicion of storage and transportation of radioactive substances. After some time, the case was closed, but Kovtun was deprived of his residence permit and returned to Russia.
In 2017, Kovtun was subject to US sanctions.