The Litvinenko Inquiry

will assess the strength of that inference in due course, by reference to the totality
of the evidence
c. Third, it is to be noted in particular in this regard (i) that no similar primary
contamination was found in any of the waste pipes of the bathroom in room 848
of the Sheraton Hotel, where Mr Lugovoy stayed on the nights of 25-27 October;
and (ii) that a similar deposit of primary contamination was found in the u-bend
of the sink in room 382 of the Millennium Hotel, where Mr Kovtun stayed on
1 November 2006
Moving hotel
6.112 On the following day, Tuesday 17 October 2006, Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun moved
from the Best Western Hotel to the Parkes Hotel in Knightsbridge. They stayed at the
Parkes Hotel on the night of 17 October before, as we shall see, flying back to Moscow
on Wednesday 18 October. The rooms at the Best Western had been booked for both
nights. Why they moved remains unclear. What the evidence does show is as follows:
a. As I have described above, Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun arrived at and checked
into the Best Western Hotel at about 12.51pm on 16 October. They were given
access to one of their rooms – room 107 – an hour or so later before they left for
the meeting with Mr Reilly at Erinys
b. At 3.07pm on the same day – i.e. at about the time of the meeting at Erinys – rooms
were booked by email for Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun at the Parkes Hotel for the
next night, 17 October. DI Mascall’s evidence was that these bookings, unlike the
earlier bookings, were made by Mr Lugovoy’s daughter, Tatiana Lugovoya 96
c. Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun checked out of the Best Western Hotel at about
1.30pm on 17 October. They told the receptionist simply that they were leaving a
day early. They did not ask for a refund 97
d. The two men checked into the Parkes Hotel at about 2.00pm on the same day.
They were greeted by the Front of House Manager at the hotel, Giuliana Rondoni,
from whom I heard evidence. Ms Rondoni recalled that they had told her that they
had come from another hotel in Piccadilly that was overbooked 98
6.113 Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun stayed, respectively, in rooms 23 and 25 at the Parkes
Hotel. 99 Secondary contamination was found in both rooms. 100
Meetings with Dr Shadrin
6.114 Later on 17 October, Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun had a meeting with Dr Shadrin in the
CPL offices at 58 Grosvenor Street. As I have already mentioned, they had had dinner
with him the night before. The Visitors’ Book held at the entrance to the building 101
indicates that the two men arrived at 3.00pm and left at 5.30pm on 17 October. The
entries in the book also indicate that the two men had visited the building the day
96
Mascall 9/120-121
97
Krgo 9/60-62
98
Rondoni 10/189-190
99
Mascall 9/121-122
100
Mascall 9/124-125
101
INQ006389
Part 6 | Chapters 1 to 8 | The polonium trail – events in October and November 2006
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