Putin the ‘tea’ in terror
Vlad behind nuke hit on rival’s drink: Brit judge
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin likely endorsed a James Bond-style plot to murder a relentless Kremlin critic by slipping a deadly radioactive isotope into his tea.
A British judge, in a detailed and wide-ranging 326-page report released Thursday, found the Russian strongman “probably approved” the 2006 execution of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.
The Russian FSB, the successor to the old Soviet KGB, likely collaborated with him in the killing that created a diplomatic fissure between the two nations nearly a decade after the death.
Judge Robert Owen found the murder was in part sparked by “a personal dimension (of) the antagonism” between the dead man and Putin.
All implicated in the plot, including Putin, issued strong statements denying any role in the poisoning.
Owen noted the contentious relationship between Putin and Litvinenko, dating to their first meeting eight years before his death. Litvinenko left the FSB to join British intelligence, and became a constant thorn in the Putin regime’s side.
“Mr. Litvinenko made repeated highly personal attacks on President Putin, culminating in the allegation of pedophilia in July 2006,” Owen wrote.
Four months later, Litvinenko drank the poisoned tea during a meeting with two Russian men inside the Pine Bar at London’s posh Millennium Hotel. He died three weeks later of acute radiation syndrome.
“I am satisfied, in general terms, members of the Putin administration, including the president himself and the FSB, had motives for taking action against Mr. Litvinenko, including killing him, in late 2006,” the judge found.
Litvinenko, in a statement released from his deathbed, pointed the finger directly at Putin.
“May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people,” he said.
Polonium-210, the toxic material used to murder Litvinenko, is so powerful that a single microgram no bigger than a speck of dust can be deadly.
Once introduced to the system, either by inhaling or ingesting the isotope, polonium-210 wreaks havoc on virtually the entire body — from blood cells to bone marrow to the central nervous system.
According to Owen, Russian suspects Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun poisoned Litvinenko on orders from above.
Litvinenko’s widow Marina hailed the ruling that came nearly a decade after her husband’s death from the radioactive poison manufactured in a nuclear reactor.
“I am of course very pleased that the words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr. Putin of his murder have been proved true in an English court with a high standard of independence and fairness,” she said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the “state-sponsored” killing was a disgrace, while a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman dismissed the probe as “a shadow puppet theater.”