The Litvinenko Inquiry

The Litvinenko Inquiry
If Mr Kovtun was handling or carrying polonium 210 at around this time, it does not of
course follow that he knew precisely what the substance was, or about its qualities. It
may be that he had not been told. A similar question arises with regard to Mr Lugovoy.
I will return to this matter in due course.
6.42 The account given to German investigators by Marina Wall’s mother, Elenora Wall,
was to a similar effect. It appears that she remained close to Mr Kovtun after his return
to Moscow in 2003. She said that still in 2006, Mr Kovtun was:
“... always very modest. He only had a few clothes. Money and he did not go
together. That is how we know him... Dmitry is not the person who takes a step
forward in order to carry out big deals.” 24
She added:
“Dmitry is not a brutal person who kills people. No member of the KGB would have
put poison in Dmitry’s hands. He is a very soft person. He isn’t a businessman,
he is a philosopher. I do not believe that he knew when he visited us that he was
giving off radioactivity. He was just as he always was. He would not have come if
he had known that.” 25
6.43 Finally, Elenora Wall also said something about what Mr Kovtun told her when he had
become ill following Mr Litvinenko’s death. She said:
“He told me that he had probably got some of the poison which killed Litvinenko.
He said word for word, ‘Those arseholes have probably poisoned us all’.” 26
She added that he had not explained the identity of the “arseholes” to whom he had
referred.
24
Elenora Wall 32/77
25
Elenora Wall 32/79-80
26
Elenora Wall 32/81
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