The Litvinenko Inquiry
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Litvinenko</strong> <strong>Inquiry</strong><br />
gave evidence that Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> was convicted on one of the extant sets of<br />
proceedings against him in Russia during 2002. 10<br />
4.15 Just as the evidence suggests that the FSB’s anger at what some at least of its<br />
members appear to have regarded as Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>’s betrayal of his old organisation<br />
did not diminish on his departure from Russia, so it is reasonable to speculate that<br />
such feelings of betrayal in fact increased over the following years. As I shall describe<br />
below, Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> wrote books that accused the FSB of corruption and also of<br />
responsibility for the mass murder of hundreds of Russian citizens in the so-called<br />
‘apartment bombings’ of 1999. Further, there was certainly a belief amongst some<br />
FSB officers and others that Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> had started to work for MI6 following his<br />
arrival in the UK.<br />
4.16 It is therefore at least possible that Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>’s profile amongst members of the<br />
FSB (and also perhaps amongst the wider military establishment) as an insider who<br />
had betrayed his own organisation did not decline following the press conference and<br />
Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>’s departure from Russia, but in fact increased between 2000 and 2006.<br />
4.17 <strong>The</strong>re is one striking piece of evidence that seems to corroborate this point. I saw video<br />
evidence of Russian soldiers using targets featuring Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>’s face for target<br />
practice. 11 Mrs <strong>Litvinenko</strong> gave oral evidence about this. 12 She said that both she and<br />
Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> had heard that this was going on at some point in 2006, certainly before<br />
his death. Police enquiries suggested that the video footage was taken at the Vityaz<br />
special forces training centre in Balashikha. 13 Mrs <strong>Litvinenko</strong> said that Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong><br />
had been a member of the Vityaz force in his early career before joining the FSB.<br />
Membership of Boris Berezovsky’s circle<br />
4.18 I have referred several times to the close relationship between Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> and<br />
Boris Berezovsky. It began in the mid 1990s when Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> was assigned to<br />
investigate an attempted assassination of Mr Berezovsky. Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong> subsequently<br />
earned Mr Berezovsky’s gratitude when he protected him from arrest in connection<br />
with the murder of Mr Listyev. I have explained in Part 3 above the role that<br />
Mr Berezovsky played in the whistleblowing saga, and in particular his attempts to<br />
support Mr <strong>Litvinenko</strong>’s demands for reform of the FSB.<br />
4.19 At the time of those events, Mr Berezovsky enjoyed considerable political influence as<br />
a close associate of President Yeltsin. As I indicated above, at the time of the November<br />
1998 press conference, Mr Berezovsky regarded himself as a friend of Mr Putin, who<br />
had replaced Mr Kovalyev as head of the FSB. Moreover, as Mr Felshtinsky explained<br />
in evidence, Mr Berezovsky appears to have had (or at least claimed to have had) a<br />
role in the events that led to Mr Putin being elected President in 2000. 14<br />
4.20 This friendship, however, did not last. As Professor Service has explained:<br />
“Tension between Putin and Berezovski started almost as soon as Yeltsin resigned<br />
the Presidency in December 1999. Berezovski relished the reputation of kingmaker.<br />
He claimed responsibility for Putin’s rise to the Presidency, and no doubt his<br />
10<br />
Marina <strong>Litvinenko</strong> 3/94; COM00002001; COM00003001<br />
11<br />
INQ017680 [video]<br />
12<br />
Marina <strong>Litvinenko</strong> 4/31-32; 4/41; 4/112-114<br />
13<br />
Marina <strong>Litvinenko</strong> 4/113; INQ016447<br />
14<br />
Felshtinsky 23/128-131<br />
54