The Litvinenko Inquiry

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