Attempts to implicate Russia and more specifically Putin,   public enemy number one of the West, in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, shows no sign of abating. Alexander Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in 2006 three weeks after ingesting polonium in a London hotel.  Tests revealed that he ingested a rare isotope, polonium 210, which is hard to detect.  Indeed just a few milligrams of the highly radioactive isotope also found in Yasser Arafat's body is a lethal dose. As a result an international murder investigation has been launched this is alleged to implicate Russian president Vladimir Putin and two former KGB officers. The two former KGB officers are Andrey Lugovoy, now a Russian MP, and Dimitri Kovton. Both men have always maintained their innocence and are protected by the fact that they cannot be extradited under Russian law. After years of campaigning Marina Litvinenko has been able to secure a full public inquiry into the death of her husband.

The latest accusations against Russia come in the form of an article in the UK Daily Telegraph an unashamedly Tory right wing newspaper. The accusations centre around what they call key damning evidence collected by the now thoroughly discredited National Security Agency in the US. The paper claims to have obtained  copies of  exclusive intercepted NSA communications between key individuals both in Russia and the UK from the time that Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive material .  Audio recordings have been made available in which Litvinenko is said to detail  links between Putin and one of the world’s most dangerous criminals. These intercepts not previously made available are said to have been passed to the British authorities and demonstrate beyond doubt that the Russian state ordered the execution of Litvinenko. 

It should be pointed out that such intercepts would not be admissible in a court of law. The chairman of the Public Enquiry Sir Robert Owen has taken the unusual step of already announcing as early as last year before the public enquiry had even commenced that he has seen: “prima facie” evidence that the Russia state was involved in the murder.  Placing their confidence in American intelligence the British have cast aside all sense of protocol in favour of blatant anti Russia bashing which seems to be de rigueur in western capitals and the United States.  No such public announcements were made prior to the Chilcot Enquiry into the Iraq war which has been surrounded by secrecy as is usually the case when the British establishment seek to protect their own.

The information made available by the NSA is extremely sketchy and does not take account of the fact that Litvinenko was in fact a secret service agent who had  previously worked for the KGB as well as working as an informant to M16 for several years. Rather conveniently much of the “sensitive” government evidence over the poisoning would now be heard in closed sessions of the public inquiry, announced Sir Robert Owen.  Litvinenko also cooperated with the Spanish, Italian and Georgian security services and was party to investigations on organised crime networks which could have been used to implicate the Russian state. It is likely in the course of this work that Litvinenko acquired many enemies on the way.

Several competing theories have emerged as to who was behind the murder of Litvinenko. We should also not discount the role of Boris Berezovksy, a fierce Putin critic who had sought political asylum in the UK. A Russian oligarch who was Yeltsin’s right hand man, a Russian Mr Fix it, was able to make multi billions when the Soviet Union collapsed.  Desperate for money Litvinenko cultivated a close relationship with Boris Berezovsky who provided a house in Muswell Hill in North London as well as paying the school fees for Litvinenko’s son.  Boris Berezovksy who committed suicide in 2013 in mysterious circumstances after losing his case against another oligarch Roman Abramovitch , the owner of Chelsea Football Club, in 2011 took to his grave, details of his links with Litvinenko. There is also a connection involving Ahmed Zakayev, a Chechen separatist leader with whom Litvinenko formed a close relationship which took place against the backdrop of the brutal Chechen war. There are also allegations from Litivinenko’s brother who previously claimed the Russian state was behind the death of his brother. Maxim in a dramatic u turn claimed that the British were behind the death of Litivinenko as part of an attempt to discredit Russia.  It is alleged though not substantiated that Litvinenko and Boris Berezovsky also had links to the weapons smuggling Russian-Israeli Mafia.

In the murky world of counter espionage several competing theories have emerged as to who murdered Alexander Litivnenko.  The UK Public Enquiry to be held in secret will not necessarily solve the conundrum of this very public murder. One thing we can say with certainty is that the evidence available to date is insufficient to convict the Russian state of sanctioned murder. This hasn’t prevented the UK from making bellicose pronouncements on Russia’s involvement.

Tamara Taylor. Senior Correspondent, Medhaj News. She is based in Londom