Russian Prosecutors Start Own Case Into Litvinenko Murder

Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday that it had started own criminal investigation into the murder of former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko who had dies in London of apparent radioactive poisoning.

Russian Internet daily Gazeta.Ru quoted a release by Prosecutor General’s press service as reading that the criminal case has been started into the murder of Russian citizen Alexander Litvinenko and attempted murder of Russian citizen Dmitry Kovtun.

The report also reads that Russian prosecutors had checked the details of Litvinenko’s death “within the framework of rendering legal aid to British investigators” and established that Litvinenko had died of radiation poisoning while Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London in October, had developed a disease also caused by a radiation poisoning.

Investigation into the case is being conducted by the Directorate for Specially Important Cases.

Litvinenko, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and a close ally of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, began complaining of feeling ill on November 1. He died three weeks later from radiation poisoning. On his deathbed Litvinenko asked his father to arrange a Muslim burial for him and dictated a letter in which he blamed the Kremlin of his death.

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