Russian agent accused of poisoning spy dead at 57

Russian representative Dmitry Kovtun, who had been accused by the U.K. authorities within the poisoning loss of previous spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, has died at 57.

Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi, whom additionally had been accused by the U.K. within the spy’s killing, announced Kovtun’s death on his messaging application channel. Lugovoi said that Kovtun passed away Saturday of a illness that is COVID-19-induced. Russian news reports said he died at a hospital in Moscow.

A British inquiry concluded that Kovtun and Lugovoi had killed Litvinenko and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “probably approved” the operation. The European Court of Human Rights backed the conclusion that is british

The Kremlin has fiercely rejected any participation.

Kovtun and Lugovoi additionally denied playing any part in Litvinenko’s death.

A previous representative for the KGB as well as its successor that is post-Soviet agency, Litvinenko defected from Russia in 2000 and fled to London. He became involved in exposing corruption and links to crime that is organized the Russian intelligence solution.

He dropped violently ill in November 2006 after consuming tea with two men that are russian a London resort and passed away three months later on. Their tea had been discovered to own been laced with radioactive polonium-210.