June 04, 2022
Businessman and ex-KGB agent Dmitry Kovtun, one of two Russian men accused by Britain of poisoning Kremlin critic Aleksandr Litvinenko in London in 2006, has died after contracting COVID-19 in Moscow, Russian state media reported on June 4.
He was 57.
Andrei Lugovoi, a member of the lower house of Russian parliament who had served in the KGB with Kovtun and was also accused in the case, confirmed the news of Kovtun’s death.
“My close and loyal friend Dmitry Kovtun has suddenly died following a grave illness linked to a coronavirus infection," Lugovoi said in a statement.
The TASS news agency said he had died in a Moscow hospital.
Britain says Litvinenko, a naturalized British citizen, died weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 at London's Millennium Hotel, where he met Kovtun and Lugovoi.
British investigators said they found traces of polonium at sites where Kovtun and Lugovoi had been in the English capital, including in offices, hotels, planes, and a football stadium.
Both men deny any involvement in Litvinenko's death, and Russia refused to extradite them to face trial.
Litvinenko was a former Russian intelligence officer who had become an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. From his deathbed, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, but the Kremlin has always denied any role.
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