Security service to look at claims of Russian involvement in 14 deaths
the state was involved in the recent poisoning power”. An investigation published last year by the Buzzfeed news website identified 14 deaths, including that of Mr Young, which it said had been linked to Russia by US spy agencies.
According to the investigation, Mr Young was part of a circle of nine men including the oligarch Boris Berezovsky who all died in mysterious circumstances on British soil.
In each of the cases, including the deaths of Mr Berezovsky and whistleblower Alexander Perepilichnyy, police investigations found no evidence of foul play.
In a letter to the House of Commons home affairs committee, Ms Rudd said: “The government was aware of these allegations, and takes seriously any suggestion that a foreign state has engaged in murder on UK soil.
“In the weeks to come, I will want to satisfy myself that the allegations are nothing more than that. The police and MI5 agree and will assist in that endeavour.”
In 2015, a coroner decided Mr Young’s death could not be ruled as a suicide due to “inconclusive evidence to determine his state of mind and intention when he came out of the window”. 0 Boris Berezovsky was found hanged at home five years ago
The Scot, who made his fortune as a property developer, had been jailed for six months for contempt of court during his divorce from former wife Michelle, who accused him of hiding assets worth £400 million.
During the inquest, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard he had been treated for bipolar affective disorder, and cocaine, cannabis and alcohol abuse since 2011.
Mr Berezovsky, an outspoken critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, was found hanged in the bathroom of his Berkshire home in 2013. Police said a post-mortem examination showed no sign of a violent struggle and an inquest recorded an open verdict.
The inquest heard from Pro- fessor Bernd Brinkmann, who said he believed the businessman was strangled by someone else and then hanged.
A third case involves Mr Perepilichnyy, 44, who died while jogging near his Surrey home in 2012. While initial toxicology tests revealed nothing suspicious and police found no evidence of foul play, the presence of a rare and deadly plant toxin was later found in his stomach. An inquest into his death resumes next month.
Former police chief Lord Blair – who led the Metropolitan Police at the time of the radiation poisoning murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 – has called for the 14 cases to be reopened.
It also emerged yesterday that counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the “unexplained” death of Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov, who claimed political asylum in the UK after being convicted of fraud.
The Met said its specialist unit was looking into Mr Glushkov’s death “as a precaution” because of associations he is believed to have had.
There was no evidence linking the death of the 69-yearold former Aeroflot director, and one-time friend of Mr Berzovsky, to the incidents in Salisbury, police said.