'Your judge has clearly gone mad': Prime suspect in Litvinenko assassination denies carrying out the killing and claims MI6 tried to recruit HIM as a spy

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The Russian spy accused of killing Alexander Litvinenko today hit back at the report pinning him to the murder, saying that the inquiry judge who wrote it 'has clearly gone mad'.

Andrei Lugovoi, who is now a Russian MP, is subject to an arrest warrant - but he claimed it was 'more likely that the moon will become part of the Earth' than that he would face justice in Britain, adding that MI6 had tried to recruit him as a double agent.

The 49-year-old ex-KGB operative is one of two men whom Sir Robert Owen yesterday accused of poisoning Litvinenko with polonium in a London hotel in 2006, in an attack which was 'probably' authorised by Vladimir Putin.

Sir Robert's detailed report suggested that Lugovoi may have been set up by the Russian authorities to pretend to be a dissident who had been jailed for helping one of Litvinenko's friends break out of prison.

The country's embassy in Britain today mocked the report, calling it 'a welcome admission of defeat in scheming to undermine Russia' and claiming that the UK was trying to pick a fight because of embarrassment over the Iraq War.

Denial: Andrei Lugovoi, pictured, said that Sir Robert Owen must have gone mad after he was named as the killer of Alexander Litvinenko

Victim: Litvinenko lying in hospital after he was poisoned by Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun 

Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, who was also accused of killing Litvinenko, refused to give evidence to the long-running public inquiry, and Russia says it will not extradite the two men.

He said this morning that reports of his reponsibility were nothing but 'invention, supposition, rumours' and expressed scepticism of the British justice system.

'I've seen the nonsense conclusions of your judge who has clearly gone mad,' Lugovoi said.

'I saw nothing new there. I am very sorry that 10 years on nothing new has been presented, only invention, supposition, rumours.

'And the fact that such words as "possibly" and "probably" were used in the report, means there is no proof, nothing concrete against us.'

Deathbed: As he lay dying, Litvinenko accused Vladimir Putin of ordering his assassination

Family: At a press conference following the report's publication, Marina Litvinenko and her son Anatoly demanded action from the British government against Russia

Rant: The Russian Embassy criticised the 'contradictory and criminal' findings of the inquiry report

LITVINENKO ACCUSED ABRAMOVICH OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND BLACKMAIL, REPORT SAYS

 

Alexander Litvinenko accused Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich of blackmailing a Russian prosecutor by persuading Vladimir Putin to publicise a tape of him having sex with prostitutes, according to the report into his death.

In a sensational blog post published shortly before his death and reproduced by Sir Robert Owen, the former spy referred to the case of Yuri Skuratov, Russia's former prosecutor-general.

Mr Skuratov was taped having sex with two prostitutes in a Moscow flat in a 'famous scandal' which ended his political career, Litvinenko said.

He wrote: 'Putin (on Roman Abramovich's instructions) blackmailed Skuratov with these tapes and tried to persuade the prosecutor general to resign.'

Sir Robert's inquiry report also mentions claims Litvinenko was investigating an allegation that Mr Abramovich laundered money in Spain with the Russian president.

Billionaire oligarch Boris Berezovsky gave a statement to police investigating his friend Litvinenko's death, saying: 'He told me that he was working on some intelligence relating to Roman Abramovich.

'This was likely to see him arrested in Spain for money laundering and buying land illegally. This also involves Putin.'

Berezovsky was a business partner of Mr Abramovich in the 1990s, before he fled to Britain after falling out with Mr Putin. The two men later sued each other in the biggest private court case in English history.

Asked whether he would ever stand trial in Britain, the MP said: 'You know, it's more likely that the moon will become part of the Earth, than that I will be extradited from Russia - it's just impossible.

'You should understand correctly - if London 10 years ago accused me of something that carries a life sentence, what normal person would go to London to prove themselves?'

In another interview, Lugovoi claimed that MI6 had tried to recruit him shortly before Litvinenko's death, adding that he was refused a visa to visit Britain when he turned them down.

'I was denied a visa after British intelligence MI6 tried recruiting me,' he told the Rossiya 1 TV channel today.

'Litvinenko died in November 2006, but in March-April I was openly offered co-operation.'

Lugovoi's 26-year-old wife Ksenyia, a former model, has set up a chain of cafes in Moscow whose signature dish is specially brewed tea.

Today the Russian Embassy in the UK blasted the report's findings in a series of scathing tweets, comparing the investigation to something from a crime novel and blaming the conclusions on the fall-out from Russia's efforts to stop the Iraq War.

'Litvinenko inquiry nothing but a contradictory and criminal show,' officials said on Twitter. 'Death of key witnesses resembles Agatha Christie.

'Britain made no progress in the investigation of Boris Berezovsky's death.

'Disposing of Litvinenko case 10 years after his death: welcome admission of defeat in scheming to undermine Russia since we fell out over Iraq.'

The Russian media was also quick to rubbish the conclusions, dubbing the chairman 'Mr Maybe' because of his cautious conclusions which rely on the balance of probabilities rather than making absolute statements.

Sir Robert's 320-page report came nearly a decade after Litvinenko, 44, died of radiation poisoning following a meeting with Lugovoi and Kovtun in a Central London hotel in November 2006.

Suspects: Sir Robert Owen's inquiry named Lugovoi, left, and Dmitri Kovtun, right, as the two men responsible for carrying out the orders to kill Litvinenko by slipping radioactive polonium into a teapot

Widow: Mrs Litvinenko, speaking on the steps of the High Court in London yesterday, called for the expulsion of all Russian spies from London following the public inquiry

He had drunk from a pot of tea which turned out to have been laced with polonium-210, a deadly isotope which has been linked to the Russian state's nuclear arsenal.

On his deathbed in a London hospital three weeks later, Litvinenko pinned the blame for his poisoning on Mr Putin, telling the Russian president that 'the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate in your ears for the rest of your life'.

Sir Robert's most explosive conclusion was the statement that the murder was 'probably' personally authorised by Mr Putin himself, as well as by the head of Russia's secret service.

Litvinenko's widow Marina, who has led the campaign for justice, expressed relief 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'.

The spy fled Russia after being ordered to kill oligarch Boris Berezovsky and became a British citizen after settling in Russia with his wife and son Anatoly.

He was one of Mr Putin's outspoken critics - and even accused him of being a paedophile' after the president was pictured kissing the stomach of a young boy.

Describing the incident in July 2006, Litvinenko said: 'Putin kneeled, lifted the boy's T-shirt and kissed his stomach. Nobody can understand why the Russian president did such a strange thing as kissing the stomach of an unfamiliar small boy.'

RADIOACTIVE TRAIL ACROSS EUROPE...

Following one of the most extensive criminal investigations in British history – and a £2.25million inquiry – the Mail here lays bare a blow-by-blow account of how the state-sponsored assassination of Alexander Litvinenko unfolded.

October 2004

Sir Robert Owen believes Andrei Lugovoi may have started plotting when the pair met in London to discuss a ‘business proposal’. By then Mr Litvinenko was being paid £2,000 a month by MI6 to pass information about organised gangs linked to senior Kremlin figures.

October 16, 2006

Mr Litvinenko travels by bus to an office in Mayfair for a meeting in the boardroom of security firm Erinys. He meets consultant Tim Reilly, along with Russians Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, who had flown to London that morning from Moscow. They are carrying a vial of polonium-210 from a Russian nuclear reactor. They attempt to kill Litvinenko by spraying a small amount of polonium-210 into his cup. Sir Robert concluded that Lugovoi and Kovtun ‘knew they were using a deadly poison’ and intended to kill Litvinenko, but did not know precisely what the poison was.

The assassination fails as Litvinenko does not take a sip. A month later the green baize tablecloth is still contaminated with radiation. After the meeting they go for lunch at Itsu in Piccadilly, which is contaminated.

October 17

The assassins move to the Parkes Hotel in Knightsbridge, which they also contaminate. Once again they meet Mr Litvinenko, but do not try to poison him.

October 18

Lugovoi and Kovtun fly back to Moscow from Gatwick, contaminating the plane with radiation.

October 19

Mr Litvinenko makes a speech publicly blaming Vladimir Putin for the murder of a Russian journalist.

October 25

After an almost certain rebuke, Lugovoi returns to London, contaminating the aircraft.

October 26

He meets a contact called Badri Patarkatsishvili, a wealthy Georgian, and contaminates his car. He is visited by Mr Litvinenko at his hotel, the Sheraton Park Lane, where radiation is also later found. They met the following day before he returned to Moscow on a BA flight.

October 28

Kovtun flies from Moscow to Hamburg, where he visits his ex-wife. Traces of radiation are later found in her flat as well as locations including his mother-in-law’s home.

October 31

Lugovoi arrives in London with his family on a BA plane that also tests positive for polonium. They were ostensibly visiting to watch CSKA Moscow football club play at Arsenal’s ground.

November 1

Kovtun arrives in London, meets Lugovoi and they start planning their assassination attempt by luring Mr Litvinenko to central London. Lugovoi calls Mr Litvinenko and suggests a meeting at the Pine Bar in the Millennium Hotel.

Litvinenko takes a bus from his home in Muswell Hill, north London, then a Tube to Piccadilly Circus where he has a 3pm lunch with his associate Mario Scaramella.

He fields calls from an increasingly irate Lugovoi. By this stage the killers have ordered three teas, three gin and tonics, one straight gin, one champagne cocktail, one Romeo y Julieta cigar No 1, and some green tea. The bill is £70.60.

Moments before Mr Litvinenko arrives, some polonium is sprayed from a vial into the pot of green tea and this time he does drink some.

Before leaving, Lugovoi returns to the bar with his eight-year-old son Igor. Lugovoi introduced him to Mr Litvinenko and Igor shakes his contaminated hand.

Mr Litvinenko’s teapot gave off readings of 100,000 becquerels per centimetre squared – 10,000 ingested is enough to kill someone. The biggest reading came from the spout. Their table registered 20,000 becquerels. There were traces on bottles of Martini and Tia Maria behind the bar, the ice-cream scoop and a chopping board. After putting the poison in Mr Litvinenko’s teapot, Kovtun goes to his room and tips the rest of the liquid solution down his bathroom sink. At 5.20pm Mr Litvinenko gets a lift home from his friend Akhmed Zakayev. Mr Litvinenko later falls violently ill.

November 4

Mr Litvinenko admitted to Barnet General Hospital, north London, under his pseudonym Edwin Redwald Carter.

November 17

Medics transfer him to University College Hospital, where he is placed under armed police guard.

November 20

The polonium starts to take hold and he suffers weight and hair loss. Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit begins investigation.

November 22

Litvinenko has a heart attack in the night.

November 23

He dies and Scotland Yard launch a major operation and London is put on lockdown as chemical experts try to clear up radiation. Scotland Yard detectives were dispatched to Moscow in search of evidence but repeatedly obstructed.

The publication of the report caused major shockwaves through the political and diplomatic world yesterday as it found:

• The report found Litvinenko was deliberately poisoned by others - namely Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun.
• It is a strong probability that Lugovoi poisoned Litvinenko under the direction of Moscow's FSB intelligence service. Kovtun was also acting under FSB direction, possibly indirectly through Mr Lugovoi but probably to his knowledge.
• The FSB operation to kill Litvinenko was probably approved by then-FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev and also by Vladimir Putin.
• Sir Robert also linked the Russian state to a string of other assassinations of Mr Putin's critics around the world.
• The report prompted an immediate reaction from Marina Litvinenko who demanded sanctions and the expulsion of all Russian spies from London.
• Theresa May said the killing was a breach of international law and told MPs the Russian Ambassador would be summoned to the Foreign Office.
• But following the meeting, Ambassador Yakovenko blasted the report as a 'whitewash' which was covering up British 'incompetence'.
• Prime Minister David Cameron intervened, saying the 'appalling' findings of the report confirmed what ministers had believed since 2007 - that the Kremlin had ordered an assassination on the streets of London. He said the necessary relationship between Britain and Russia would be continued with 'clear eyes and a very cold heart'.
• Moscow reacted with derision as a spokesman for President Putin dismissed the report as an example of 'subtle British humour' that would do nothing but 'poison' bilateral relations.

Politics: David Cameron could face a diplomatic row with Putin if Russia refuses to extradite the assassins

Claim: The report revealed how Litvinenko accused Putin of being a paedophile because of this incident where the Russian president kissed a boy's stomach

One of the major unanswered questions which the report attempted to address was the issue of why Litvinenko put himself at risk by agreeing to meet his killers at the Millennium Hotel on November 1, 2006.

Lugovoi had become close to Boris Berezovsky, a friend and ally of Litvinenko, after supposedly being jailed in 2001 for trying to spring one of the oligarch's associates out of prison.

SIR ROBERT OWEN SPENT A YEAR INVESTIGATING DEATH

Sir Robert Owen ignited a war of words between Britain and Russia with his bombshell conclusion President Putin had 'probably' personally ordered the killing of Alexander Litvinenko.

A former High Court judge, Sir Robert was first handed the Litvinenko file as an assistant coroner for North London.

His inquiry at the High Court heard evidence over seven months and was completed in almost exactly a year.

Despite repeated requests, Sir Robert was not able to hear evidence from either of the two men he named yesterday as assassins.

But he did hear from the family of Mr Litvinenko and a string of expert witnesses as he built a picture of what happened and why.

Testimony was given on the potency of polonium 210, Mr Litvinenko's treatement after he was poisoned and statements made by the alleged assassins in Russia. 

This helped him gain Litvinenko's trust - but witnesses told Sir Robert that the whole episode may have been set up by the Russian state to allow Lugovoi to infiltrate the Russian dissident network.

Lugovoi had formerly worked for the KGB - and a Russian saying states 'there is no such thing as a former KGB man', suggesting that he may never have shed his links to the secret service.

Litvinenko and Berezovsky believed that he had been in prison for trying to organise a prison break for Nikolai Glushkov, a former airline executive.

But liberal journalist Andrei Vasiliev told the inquiry: 'I find Lugovoi's story a little strange. He was in prison, had a criminal record and suddenly he is OK, is allowed to do business, still having contact with Berezovsky. It raises questions.'

Mr Glushkov said that he had never come across Lugovoi in the Lefortovo prison where he was apparently detained for 15 months, and the ex-spy went on to have a successful business career.

Sir Robert raised the possibility that he had deliverately been given a dissident back-story to make him appear more plausible to Litvinenko and other members of his circle.

The retired judge said in his final report: 'Was Mr Lugovoy already an FSB agent by this time, and only given a prison sentence in order to improve his credentials with those he planned to target? Or was he perhaps recruited shortly after being sentenced, and then secretly released in return for promising his services?

'Had Mr Lugovoy been tasked by the FSB to insinuate himself into a position of trust with Mr Berezovsky and Mr Litvinenko?'

Berezovsky, who like Litvinenko was an outspoken critic of the Russian regime, was found dead at his Berkshire home in March 2013. An inquest recorded an open verdict, saying it was unclear whether or not he had killed himself.

Assassian who laced cup of tea in Mayfair hotel with Polonium-210 has opened Moscow tea shop with his model wife

The glamorous wife of the former KGB agent who laced Alexander Litvineko's tea with Polonium-210 has set up a restaurant chain - and its 'signature' is its specially brewed tea.

Ksenyia Lugovoi, 26, a model and TV star, the wife of Russian MP Andrei Lugovoi, owns a small chain of shabby-chic tea shops in Moscow named De Pikhto, charging £5.25 for a pot of one of its exotic blends.

Litvinenko met Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun at a hotel in Mayfair when he drank a cup of lukewarm green tea laced with the radioactive poison.

Glamorous: Ksenyia Lugovoy, 26, a model and TV star, the wife of Russian MP Andrei Lugovoy, owns a small chain of shabby-chic tea shops in Moscow

On his deathbed in a London hospital in November that year, Litvinenko said his murder had been ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin and named Lugovoi and Kovtun as the assassins.

Both men have protested their innocence and refused to be questioned at the inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death.

Richard Horwell, QC for the police, told the inquiry that the pair were tasked with killing Litvinenko, but that the plan had taken three attempts to execute.

He told the court the finger points 'unwaveringly' towards the duo.

Popular: The three cafes charge between 350 roubles (£3.75) and 490 roubles (£5.25) a teapot, offering their clientele a range of exotic brews - including their own blend of strawberry, along with apple, ginger and honey

But Kseniya, who at 26 is 22 years her husband's junior, said she had 'never heard' of Lugovoi's alleged involvement in the sinister case before their kitsch Black Sea wedding in 2011.

And she is unapologetic about her choice of business - and boasts about the signature home-brewed fruit teas.

'I love our full flavoured "Ded Pikhto" berry tea,' she boasted.

There is no hint of deadly radioactive isotopes here, of course, and this is made from fresh strawberry, along with apple, ginger and honey.

Lugovoi sent Beresovsky a T-shirt saying 'nuclear death is knocking at your door'

One of Alexander Litvinenko's alleged killers sent a T-shirt bearing the words 'nuclear death is knocking on your door' to Britain years after the dissident's death, the inquiry heard.

Andrei Lugovoi was said to have given the top to an associate in Moscow and asked for it be delivered as a 'gift' to billionaire Boris Berezovsky, a friend of the poisoned spy, in 2010.

The front of the black T-shirt had the words 'POLONIUM-210 CSKA LONDON, HAMBURG To Be Continued', while 'CSKA Moscow Nuclear Death Is Knocking Your Door' was printed on the back.

Chilling: The front of the black T-shirt, left, had the words 'POLONIUM-210 CSKA LONDON, HAMBURG To Be Continued', while 'CSKA Moscow Nuclear Death Is Knocking Your Door' was printed on the back, right

Inquiry chairman Sir Robert Owen's final report said the writing was 'in extraordinary terms'.

It said: 'Taken on its own (and without, of course, the benefit of oral evidence from Mr Lugovoi), it would be difficult to know what to make of this T-shirt.

'On any view, it demonstrates that Mr Lugovoi approved of Mr Litvinenko's murder. It was also, clearly, a threat to Mr Berezovsky.

'Further than that, the T-shirt could be seen as an admission by Mr Lugovoi that he had poisoned Mr Litvinenko, made at a time when he was confident that he would never be extradited from Russia, and wished to taunt Mr Berezovsky with that fact.

'Alternatively, it could, perhaps, be seen as an extraordinarily tasteless joke.'

Berezovsky died at his Berkshire home in 2013.

BROTHER CALLS REPORT A SMEAR ON PUTIN AND BLAMES BRITAIN

Younger brother Maxim Litvinenko blames Britain

The brother of murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has blamed British secret services were responsible and branded today's report blaming Putin as a smear.

Younger brother, Maxim, yesterday said it was 'ridiculous' to blame the Kremlin and that he believes British security services had more of a motive to carry out the assassination.

Alexander was a former Russian spy who joined MI6 and it was revealed today that he had accused President Putin of being a paedophile in an online article, just months before his death.

However, Maxim claims the report is a 'smear' on Putin, and far from being an enemy of the state, his brother had plans to soon return to Russia and had even contacted old friends about the move.

Maxim, a chef, who lives in Rimini, Italy, said: 'The sentence is a set-up to provide more bad publicity against the Russian government.'

He also went on to downplay Alexander's role as a spy, working for either Russia or MI6, saying he was 'more like a policeman'.

Alexander worked to combat serious organised crime such as murders and arms trafficking, but did not know any state secrets, his brother claims.

'It is the Western media that have called him a spy,' he added, claiming that the report - 10 years after the death - was a set-up to put pressure on the Russian Government.

Maxim said he and his father have no faith in the report, and even doubted the accepted fact the polonium was responsible for Alexander's death.

He also suggested that several other deaths could be linked, including the suicide of Boris dissident Berezovsky, who financially supported Alexander, and the owner of a nightclub - where polonium was found - who died.

Maxim, left, and his brother Alexander (right) in November 2006. Maxim claims his brother, far from being an enemy of the state, had plans to soon return to Russia