The Litvinenko Inquiry

The Litvinenko Inquiry
gave evidence that Mr Litvinenko was convicted on one of the extant sets of
proceedings against him in Russia during 2002. 10
4.15 Just as the evidence suggests that the FSB’s anger at what some at least of its
members appear to have regarded as Mr Litvinenko’s betrayal of his old organisation
did not diminish on his departure from Russia, so it is reasonable to speculate that
such feelings of betrayal in fact increased over the following years. As I shall describe
below, Mr Litvinenko wrote books that accused the FSB of corruption and also of
responsibility for the mass murder of hundreds of Russian citizens in the so-called
‘apartment bombings’ of 1999. Further, there was certainly a belief amongst some
FSB officers and others that Mr Litvinenko had started to work for MI6 following his
arrival in the UK.
4.16 It is therefore at least possible that Mr Litvinenko’s profile amongst members of the
FSB (and also perhaps amongst the wider military establishment) as an insider who
had betrayed his own organisation did not decline following the press conference and
Mr Litvinenko’s departure from Russia, but in fact increased between 2000 and 2006.
4.17 There is one striking piece of evidence that seems to corroborate this point. I saw video
evidence of Russian soldiers using targets featuring Mr Litvinenko’s face for target
practice. 11 Mrs Litvinenko gave oral evidence about this. 12 She said that both she and
Mr Litvinenko had heard that this was going on at some point in 2006, certainly before
his death. Police enquiries suggested that the video footage was taken at the Vityaz
special forces training centre in Balashikha. 13 Mrs Litvinenko said that Mr Litvinenko
had been a member of the Vityaz force in his early career before joining the FSB.
Membership of Boris Berezovsky’s circle
4.18 I have referred several times to the close relationship between Mr Litvinenko and
Boris Berezovsky. It began in the mid 1990s when Mr Litvinenko was assigned to
investigate an attempted assassination of Mr Berezovsky. Mr Litvinenko subsequently
earned Mr Berezovsky’s gratitude when he protected him from arrest in connection
with the murder of Mr Listyev. I have explained in Part 3 above the role that
Mr Berezovsky played in the whistleblowing saga, and in particular his attempts to
support Mr Litvinenko’s demands for reform of the FSB.
4.19 At the time of those events, Mr Berezovsky enjoyed considerable political influence as
a close associate of President Yeltsin. As I indicated above, at the time of the November
1998 press conference, Mr Berezovsky regarded himself as a friend of Mr Putin, who
had replaced Mr Kovalyev as head of the FSB. Moreover, as Mr Felshtinsky explained
in evidence, Mr Berezovsky appears to have had (or at least claimed to have had) a
role in the events that led to Mr Putin being elected President in 2000. 14
4.20 This friendship, however, did not last. As Professor Service has explained:
“Tension between Putin and Berezovski started almost as soon as Yeltsin resigned
the Presidency in December 1999. Berezovski relished the reputation of kingmaker.
He claimed responsibility for Putin’s rise to the Presidency, and no doubt his
10
Marina Litvinenko 3/94; COM00002001; COM00003001
11
INQ017680 [video]
12
Marina Litvinenko 4/31-32; 4/41; 4/112-114
13
Marina Litvinenko 4/113; INQ016447
14
Felshtinsky 23/128-131
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