The Litvinenko Inquiry

The Litvinenko Inquiry
Mr Potemkin had merely stated that he had information connected with the polonium
in the Litvinenko case. In due course, he became more forthcoming. He said that
he was a Major in the FSB who was living as an undercover agent of the Russian
government in Austria. He also said that he could provide information as to how the
polonium that had been used to poison Mr Litvinenko had been transported to the UK
from Russia, and that he had in fact been part of the transportation chain.
9.76 Mr Goldfarb described what he did next. He continued to communicate with
Mr Potemkin, as well as informing the police about the information that he had
received. In August 2010 Mr Goldfarb met Mr Potemkin in Innsbruck. The two met on
further occasions later that year.
9.77 Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that in 2004 he had been assigned by the FSB to travel
to Austria and claim asylum as a deserter from the Russian army, and thereafter to
live in Austria as a refugee, with a view to monitoring the large population of Chechen
refugees present in that country. He said that he now wished to live in the UK, and that
he was willing to provide the UK authorities with sensitive information and documents
in order to facilitate this.
9.78 The story that Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb about his involvement in the Litvinenko
case was brief. He said that in 2006 a courier from the FSB had delivered to him
a sealed container with radioactive markings. He had believed that it contained
polonium 210. He had been instructed to put the container in a locker at Innsbruck
railway station and to hide the key in a prearranged place in the station. He said that
he had done this.
9.79 Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that the courier who had given him the package was not
an FSB officer, but a Chechen freelancer whom he knew only as Sultan. He believed
that Sultan was involved in arms and drugs smuggling as well as working for the
FSB. Mr Potemkin said that Sultan had also been involved in a previous shipment of
radioactive material in 2004.
9.80 Mr Potemkin’s account was that when he received the container in 2006, he put it in
the locker at the railway station and never saw it again. He did not open the container,
nor did he see any transit documents. He said that he believed the package contained
polonium 210 on account of the markings that it bore; he said that he had previously
dealt with shipments of polonium 210 in 2002 as a member of a Russian special
forces unit.
9.81 Mr Goldfarb produced several documents that he said Mr Potemkin had given to him.
For most of the documents, Mr Goldfarb provided both a copy of the Russian original
and also an English translation. Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that these documents
had been obtained in Moscow by a man named Sergei Ploshkin, who he said was his
former superior officer in the FSB.
9.82 I do not propose to set out the detailed contents of these documents. I have adduced
all the documents into evidence and they are available on the Inquiry website. 26
In summary, the key documents appear to evidence a consignment of radioactive
material, possibly polonium 210, being transferred in August 2006 from Balakovo
Atomic Power Station in Russia to the FSB Research Institute in Moscow. There is
26
INQ014604; INQ014605; INQ014607; INQ014608; INQ014609; INQ014610; INQ014611; INQ014612;
INQ014613; INQ014620; INQ014621; INQ014623; INQ014624
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