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Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian businessman who met murdered ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko on the day he fell ill is now sick from radiation poisoning, Reuters quoted local medical sources as saying on Friday.

Andrei Lugovoi has damage to vital organs consistent with exposure to dangerous levels of radiation, Interfax news agency reported, the same condition that killed Kremlin critic Litvinenko in London on November 23.

Lugovoi’s business partner Dmitry Kovtun is also in hospital and Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact of Litvinenko, has undergone treatment in London for the effects of contamination.

There have been contradictory reports about Kovtun. Some said he was in critical condition but a lawyer who was in touch with his representatives told Reuters those reports were wrong.

“Disruption in the functioning of some organs affected by radiation nuclides has been found,” Interfax quoted a source as saying.

“Lugovoi’s condition is considerably better than that of Kovtun, but he also has symptoms of contamination.” Interfax said its information came from Lugovoi’s medical notes.

Health experts are preparing to check for radiation at the Russian Today television studio where Lugovoi gave an interview on November 24, a broadcasting source told Reuters.

Checks have already been made at two other locations where Logovoi has been in Russia - the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the British embassy. A small trace was found at the embassy.

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