The Litvinenko Inquiry
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Litvinenko</strong> <strong>Inquiry</strong><br />
Mr Potemkin had merely stated that he had information connected with the polonium<br />
in the <strong>Litvinenko</strong> case. In due course, he became more forthcoming. He said that<br />
he was a Major in the FSB who was living as an undercover agent of the Russian<br />
government in Austria. He also said that he could provide information as to how the<br />
polonium that had been used to poison Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> had been transported to the UK<br />
from Russia, and that he had in fact been part of the transportation chain.<br />
9.76 Mr Goldfarb described what he did next. He continued to communicate with<br />
Mr Potemkin, as well as informing the police about the information that he had<br />
received. In August 2010 Mr Goldfarb met Mr Potemkin in Innsbruck. <strong>The</strong> two met on<br />
further occasions later that year.<br />
9.77 Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that in 2004 he had been assigned by the FSB to travel<br />
to Austria and claim asylum as a deserter from the Russian army, and thereafter to<br />
live in Austria as a refugee, with a view to monitoring the large population of Chechen<br />
refugees present in that country. He said that he now wished to live in the UK, and that<br />
he was willing to provide the UK authorities with sensitive information and documents<br />
in order to facilitate this.<br />
9.78 <strong>The</strong> story that Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb about his involvement in the <strong>Litvinenko</strong><br />
case was brief. He said that in 2006 a courier from the FSB had delivered to him<br />
a sealed container with radioactive markings. He had believed that it contained<br />
polonium 210. He had been instructed to put the container in a locker at Innsbruck<br />
railway station and to hide the key in a prearranged place in the station. He said that<br />
he had done this.<br />
9.79 Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that the courier who had given him the package was not<br />
an FSB officer, but a Chechen freelancer whom he knew only as Sultan. He believed<br />
that Sultan was involved in arms and drugs smuggling as well as working for the<br />
FSB. Mr Potemkin said that Sultan had also been involved in a previous shipment of<br />
radioactive material in 2004.<br />
9.80 Mr Potemkin’s account was that when he received the container in 2006, he put it in<br />
the locker at the railway station and never saw it again. He did not open the container,<br />
nor did he see any transit documents. He said that he believed the package contained<br />
polonium 210 on account of the markings that it bore; he said that he had previously<br />
dealt with shipments of polonium 210 in 2002 as a member of a Russian special<br />
forces unit.<br />
9.81 Mr Goldfarb produced several documents that he said Mr Potemkin had given to him.<br />
For most of the documents, Mr Goldfarb provided both a copy of the Russian original<br />
and also an English translation. Mr Potemkin told Mr Goldfarb that these documents<br />
had been obtained in Moscow by a man named Sergei Ploshkin, who he said was his<br />
former superior officer in the FSB.<br />
9.82 I do not propose to set out the detailed contents of these documents. I have adduced<br />
all the documents into evidence and they are available on the <strong>Inquiry</strong> website. 26<br />
In summary, the key documents appear to evidence a consignment of radioactive<br />
material, possibly polonium 210, being transferred in August 2006 from Balakovo<br />
Atomic Power Station in Russia to the FSB Research Institute in Moscow. <strong>The</strong>re is<br />
26<br />
INQ014604; INQ014605; INQ014607; INQ014608; INQ014609; INQ014610; INQ014611; INQ014612;<br />
INQ014613; INQ014620; INQ014621; INQ014623; INQ014624<br />
220