From the archive · A retrospective
The poisoned teapot London traced to the FSB—and probably Putin
A radioactive trail led investigators from a Mayfair hotel to two Russian visitors, an earlier failed attempt and an operation the UK inquiry said was probably approved at the top.
The weapon sat inside a teapot. On 1 November 2006, former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko met Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun in the Pine Bar of London’s Millennium Hotel. Britain’s public inquiry found the heaviest polonium-210 contamination at Litvinenko’s table and inside one of the pots. He ingested about 4.4 gigabecquerels of the isotope, developed acute radiation syndrome and died 22 days later.
MEMBER ARTICLE
Read the full story.
Continue this feature and read every member article, with The Dossier, The Brief and your saved reports.
$6.67 a month equivalent · $80 billed annually. Or $8 monthly.
Choose membership →Already a member? Sign in →Renews automatically until cancelled. Manage renewal in your account.
The UK inquiry found FSB direction to be a strong probability and senior approval by Nikolai Patrushev and Vladimir Putin to be probable. Part of its evidence was closed. Russia, Lugovoy and Kovtun denied involvement. The ECHR later found Russia responsible and found beyond reasonable doubt that Lugovoy and Kovtun carried out the assassination.
