Alexander Litvinenko, 43, died in November last year after being poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium 210.

In the five years between leaving Russia and his fatal poisoning in London, Mr Litvinenko spent hours talking on camera to friend and film-maker Andrey Nekrasov.

Nekrasov shot footage right up until Litvinenko’s final days alive in hospital.

In the film Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case, Litvinenko explains his reasons for his defection against the KGB and talks about the rise of a police state in Russia.

Nekrasov usually screens films at the Moscow Film Festival but said he had no chance of showing his latest title in his home country.

British authorities have demanded the extradition of former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, saying there is sufficient evidence to charge him with Mr Litvinenko’s murder.

The Moscow-based businessman says he is innocent of the poisoning and has accused the UK of “lies, provocation and Government propaganda”.

Russia is refusing to extradite Mr Lugovoi, citing its constitution.

The stand-off between the two Governments has threatened to plunge relations between Russia and Britain to a new post-Cold War low.

Mr Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, 44, is expected to attend a press conference about the film.

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