The Litvinenko Inquiry
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Litvinenko</strong> <strong>Inquiry</strong><br />
“We met in the afternoon in the Millennium Mayfair Hotel. I do not feel it necessary<br />
to write about this meeting in detail, as the room where it took place was equipped<br />
with high quality video equipment, which doubtless recorded the meeting.”<br />
6.314 As DI Mascall observed, this was an odd thing for Mr Lugovoy to say. 291 <strong>The</strong>re were<br />
no security cameras in the Pine Bar. And Mr Lugovoy, who was a security expert<br />
having spent his career first in the Federal Protection Service and then running his<br />
own security company, could reasonably be expected to have known that.<br />
6.315 DI Mascall referred in the course of his evidence to a number of substantive accounts<br />
that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun have given over the years. 292 <strong>The</strong>ir accounts are<br />
broadly consistent with that of Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>. For example, neither of them has ever<br />
suggested that there was anyone else present at the meeting. On the twin questions<br />
of whether they offered Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> a drink and whether he in fact drank anything<br />
during the meeting, Mr Lugovoy’s position has generally been that he is sure that they<br />
did not offer Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> a drink, but unsure whether he drank anything. Mr Kovtun’s<br />
position has been less consistent. For example, in his interview with Der Spiegel in<br />
early December 2006 – that is, only a few weeks after the incident – Mr Kovtun is<br />
recorded as having stated: 293<br />
“I can’t remember that clearly today. He came into the bar 10 minutes after us,<br />
we’d already had some alcohol, and I paid more attention to my cigar.”<br />
That account is in marked contrast to the account contained in the statement that he<br />
provided to the <strong>Inquiry</strong> dated 2 June 2015. In the 8½ years since speaking to Der<br />
Spiegel, he appears to have developed a much fuller memory of events. <strong>The</strong> relevant<br />
section of the new statement reads as follows: 294<br />
“<strong>Litvinenko</strong> came to the bar of the ‘Millennium’ hotel and ‘flopped down’ next to me<br />
on a seat at our table. <strong>Litvinenko</strong> was in a highly excited state; he was coughing.<br />
‘Having flopped down’ at our table, <strong>Litvinenko</strong> grabbed the teapot on the table<br />
and, without waiting for an invitation, poured himself some tea. He gulped down<br />
two cups of hot tea one after the other. <strong>Litvinenko</strong> then had a coughing fit, wiped<br />
his mouth with a napkin and started to talk. In the course of the conversation he<br />
coughed and constantly wiped his mouth with a napkin.”<br />
6.316 <strong>The</strong> fact that Mr Kovtun has given such a dramatically different account so many<br />
years after the event raises further serious questions about his credibility.<br />
Contamination in the Millennium Hotel<br />
6.317 DI Mascall gave evidence about the results of tests for contamination that were<br />
conducted at the Millennium Hotel. 295 Traces of alpha radiation were found in a large<br />
number of places throughout the hotel. As at other scenes, many of the positive<br />
readings were almost certainly the result of cross contamination – that is, radiation<br />
spreading from original points of contamination as a result of the use of cleaning<br />
equipment and items being moved from one place to another.<br />
291<br />
Mascall 16/158-161<br />
292<br />
Mascall 16/158-170<br />
293<br />
Mascall 16/165-168<br />
294<br />
INQ021208 (pages 5-6)<br />
295<br />
Mascall 16/174-187<br />
174