Russia Dismisses "Politicized" U.K. Inquiry Into Murder Of Ex-Spy
The country’s foreign ministry said the inquiry which concluded President Vladimir Putin “probably” ordered the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was not transparent.
Alexander Litvinenko pictured in Moscow in 1998.
Vasily Djachkov / Reuters
On Thursday, an inquiry carried out by high court judge Sir Robert Owen concluded that former FSB agents Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi poisoned Litvinenko — a former spy who fled to the UK and became a fierce critic of the Russian government — by putting polonium in his teapot in London, in an act that was "probably" approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a comment to reporters quoted on the foreign ministry's website, spokeswoman Maria Zarahova did say that the Russian government would need time to study the details of the inquiry.
The state-run Interfax news agency also said that Moscow would issue a detailed review of the report after a thorough analysis.
However, she added: "We regret that a purely criminal case was politicized and has darkened the atmosphere of bilateral relations."
"The public inquiry... despite its name, is not transparent either for Russia or for the public, given the specificity of the closed materials used under the pretext of "privacy"."
Zarahova said that the inquiry was conducted with the need to get a "predetermined 'correct' result."
Kovtun — who is now a businessman — declined to comment on the findings, Interfax reported.
However, he did dismiss the report as containing "sketchy information."
Andrei Lugovoi in Moscow, Mar. 2013.
Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP / Getty Images
Andrei Lugovoi — who was Kovtun's FSB deputy at the time, and is now a member of Russia's parliament — described the finding that he poisoned Litvinenko as "absurd."
Speaking to Interfax, and giving a statement which translated by The Guardian, Lugovoi said: "As we expected, there was no sensation. The results released today just show London's anti-Russian position once again; the narrow-mindedness and lack of desire among the British to find the real reason for the death of Litvinenko."
According to the Financial Times, Lugovoi also said: "The whole case has turned into a theatrical farce with long interludes."