LONDON: Russian President Vladimir Putin probably approved a Russian intelligence operation to murder former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a judge led-British inquiry into the 2006 killing in London concluded.
There was personal antagonism between the men, and Putin and members of his administration had motives for killing him, the inquiry said. The Kremlin has always denied any involvement.
Litvinenko, 43, an outspoken critic of Putin who fled Russia six years before his murder, died three weeks after drinking green tea laced with the rare radioactive isotope polonium-210 at a London hotel.
He blamed his death on Putin in an impassioned statement from his hospital bed.
The poisoners were former KGB bodyguard-turned-lawmaker Andrei Lugovoy and fellow Russian Dmitry Kovtun, the report by Senior Judge Robert Owen said.
Both men have denied involvement and Russia has refused to extradite them. Lugovoy was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying the accusation was absurd.
The report published in London on Thursday says forensic evidence indicates that Lugovoi and Kovtun deliberately poisoned Litvinenko with the radioactive tea, probably under the direction of the FSB security service.
"Taking full account of all the evidence and analysis available to me, I find that the FSB operation to kill Mr Litvinenko was probably approved by Patrushev and also by President Putin," the inquiry said.
Nikolai Patrushev was formerly head of the FSB, the security agency that succeeded the KGB.
"Members of the Putin administration, including the president himself and the FSB, had motives for taking action against Litvinenko, including killing him," Judge Owen said.
"President Putin's conduct towards Mr Lugovoi suggests a level of approval for the killing."
Since the inquiry began in January 2015, Anglo-Russian diplomatic relations have sunk to their lowest point since the Cold War and the report may further strain the relationship.
The investigation pored over closed-circuit television footage that retraced Litvinenko's final weeks, and examined his complicated relationships with British spy agencies and oligarchs. - Reuters
