The Litvinenko Inquiry

Part 9: Who directed the killing?
Chapter 1: Introduction
9.1 I have made the finding that Mr Litvinenko was poisoned by Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun.
9.2 However, this immediately raises a further question. There is no evidence at all
that either Mr Lugovoy or Mr Kovtun had any personal reason to kill Mr Litvinenko.
Mr Lugovoy may have commented after Mr Litvinenko’s death that he regarded
Mr Litvinenko as a traitor, but I do not think for a moment that that feeling on its own
would have been sufficient to motivate Mr Lugovoy to plan and conduct the protracted
and costly operation against Mr Litvinenko that I have outlined above. Moreover,
had Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun been acting on their own behalf, it seems highly
unlikely that they would have had access to the polonium 210 that they used to poison
Mr Litvinenko. All the evidence points in one direction, namely that, when they killed
Mr Litvinenko, Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun were acting on behalf of someone else.
9.3 This Part will address the question of who directed Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun to kill
Mr Litvinenko.
9.4 The structure of this Part will be as follows.
9.5 In Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 I will consider whether any of
the individuals and organisations listed at paragraphs 17, 19, 20 and 21 of the List
of Issues (see Appendix 3) (i.e. Boris Berezovsky, United Kingdom (UK) intelligence
agencies, organised crime groups, Mario Scaramella, Chechen groups and Alexander
Talik) had any involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s death.
9.6 In Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 I will analyse the
evidence relating to various aspects of the issue at paragraph 18 of the List of Issues
– the possible involvement of Russian State agencies in Mr Litvinenko’s death.
9.7 In Chapter 11 I will set out my conclusions on the issue of Russian State responsibility
for Mr Litvinenko’s death.
9.8 In Chapter 12 I will address one further issue, namely whether Nikolai Patrushev (the
head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in 2006) and/or President Putin bear any
responsibility for Mr Litvinenko’s death.
9.9 The factual content of these chapters will be drawn from the open evidence (I have
analysed the closed evidence in Part 7). I stress, however, that, as with Part 8, the
findings that I make below will be based on both the open and the closed evidence
that I have heard.
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