One of the two Russian men suspected of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko has died.
The former KGB agent is said to have died in the suites of covid-19.
Dmitry Kovtun was one of the two men suspected of murdering former Russian security agent and regime critic Aleksandr Litvinenko in 2006, according to another of the two suspects in the case, Andrei Lugovoy.
“My close and loyal friend Dmitry Kovtun has suddenly passed away after a serious illness linked to a coronavirus infection,” said Lugovoj, now a politician and member of the Russian Duma.
Kovtun and Lugovoy were former KGB agents and are suspected of poisoning Litvinenko at a hotel restaurant in London, by spicing up his tea with the radioactive substance polonium-210. He died three weeks later.
“Beyond all reasonable doubt”
The European Court of Justice ruled last year that Kovtun and Lugovoy “beyond all reasonable doubt” carried out the act and that “Russia was responsible”.
The then British Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2016 that the assassination was a “state-sanctioned act” by Russia.
Moscow, like the suspects themselves, has consistently denied the act.