The Litvinenko Inquiry
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Litvinenko</strong> <strong>Inquiry</strong><br />
credible, and I will not accept any part of their accounts in the absence of corroboration<br />
from a reliable source of evidence. Second, and more importantly, I make a positive<br />
finding that both men have deliberately attempted to mislead the recipients of the<br />
various accounts they have given regarding crucial issues in the case. I infer that they<br />
have done so in order to conceal their own actions. <strong>The</strong>se findings support my overall<br />
conclusion that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun poisoned Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>.<br />
Timing of travel bookings<br />
8.92 <strong>The</strong> three key events that took place in this case during October and early November<br />
2006 were the three visits to London that I have described in Part 6 above – the first<br />
visit made by Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun, the second by Mr Lugovoy alone and the<br />
third by a larger group including both Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun.<br />
8.93 As well as hearing evidence as to what took place during these visits, I also heard<br />
evidence about the travel arrangements that had been made (e.g. flight and hotel<br />
bookings) for each visit.<br />
8.94 <strong>The</strong>re are two points that emerged from this evidence that are worthy of mention.<br />
8.95 First, it was striking that the timing of the first visit seemed to turn on Mr Kovtun’s<br />
availability to travel. I have touched on this issue above, at paragraph 6.64.<br />
8.96 Mr Lugovoy was the senior of the two men in terms of their business relationships.<br />
His visa had been renewed in the summer, and he was therefore able to travel to the<br />
United Kingdom (UK) whenever he wished. It is notable, therefore, that the bookings<br />
for the flights and hotel rooms, which were both made in the days after Mr Kovtun’s<br />
UK visa was issued on 5 October 2006, appear to have been held up until it was<br />
known when Mr Kovtun would be able to make the trip. Although Mr Kovtun attended<br />
business meetings when the trip to London did take place, there was nothing in the<br />
evidence that I heard about those meetings to suggest that his attendance was in any<br />
way essential.<br />
8.97 I have already made a finding that Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun poisoned Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong><br />
with polonium 210 at their meeting in the Erinys boardroom on 16 October 2006,<br />
during this first trip. <strong>The</strong> evidence about the timing of the bookings is at the very least<br />
consistent with this finding, and I consider that it adds some weight to it. <strong>The</strong> evidence<br />
suggests that the true purpose of the trip was not to attend a series of business<br />
meetings at which Mr Kovtun would be no more than a mute observer, but rather, as I<br />
have found, to attempt to poison Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> – an operation in which Mr Kovtun was<br />
intended to play, and did play, a key role.<br />
8.98 <strong>The</strong> second point concerns the timing of the decision that Mr Kovtun should join the<br />
third trip to London. This is a point that is addressed at paragraphs 6.188 – 6.189<br />
above. In the statement that he provided to the <strong>Inquiry</strong>, Mr Kovtun suggested that he<br />
had not even contemplated flying to London on 1 November to join Mr Lugovoy and<br />
the others until 30 October (see discussion at paragraph 6.244 above). That was not<br />
true – the booking for his return flight from London to Moscow had been made several<br />
days earlier on 27 October. I am satisfied that that was the time at which the decision<br />
was made that Mr Kovtun would go to London.<br />
8.99 That date of 27 October was midway through the trip that Mr Lugovoy made to<br />
London alone, when he stayed in room 848 of the Sheraton Hotel. I am satisfied that<br />
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