Arrest Warrants for Andrei Lugovoi, Dmitri Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko

Britain to arrest ex-KGB agents - murderers AXIS Information and Analysis is reporting that Scotland Yard detectives are expected to issue arrest warrants against three former KGB officers suspected of poisoning ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Warrants are expected to be issued against Andrei Lugovoy, Dmitri Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolenko within the next few weeks.

Andrei Lugovoi a former Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) operative and millionaire who met with Alexander Litvinenko on the day he fell ill (1 November). He had visited London at least three times in the month before Litvinenko's death and met with the victim four times. In 1987 Lugovoi joined the KGB's 9th directorate which provided security for top state officials. He was a platoon commander for five years and then served as a commander in the Kremlin regiment's training company. In 1991 he was transferred to the personal security unit until his resignation at the end of 1996. During his time in the KGB he provided security for Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, the head of the presidential administration Sergey Filatov and Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev. Lugovoi went on to work in the private security business. For several years he was head of security at the private television company ORT, then owned by Boris Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili. In 2001 Lugovoi was arrested and charged with organizing the escape of Nikolai Glushkov, a former deputy director-general of Aeroflot arrested in 2000 on fraud charges. Lugovoi's company Pershin is involved in private security, soft drinks and wine, and is said to be worth £100 million.

Dmitri Kovtun a Russian businessman, business partner with Andrei Lugovoy, and ex-KGB agent, met Alexander Litvinenko several times in London, the last time hours before Litvinenko fell ill. Kovtun graduated from military school in 1985, before graduating in 1986 with Andrei Lugovoy, from the prestigious army college, the Moscow Command School. Lugovoy recalled that the two of them had grown up in the same apartment block from the age of 12, while their fathers served in the Soviet Ministry of Defence. Kovtun spent the rest of the 1980s serving in Czechoslovakia and then Germany. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, he remained in Germany, living there for a total of 12 years. He married a German national, although they are now separated. He retains a German residence permit, although he no longer conducts any business in Germany. He now works in consulting, helping Western companies to access Russian markets. It was for this reason, he explained, that he was interested in meeting Litvinenko, who had “serious contacts with serious English companies” interested in operating in Russia. Kovtun confirmed that he had first been introduced to Litvinenko by Lugovoy on 16 October.

Vyacheslav Sokolenko, another business partner of Andrei Lugovoy and Dimitri Kovtun. Sokolenko works for Devyatyy Val (Ninth Wave), a group of private security firms based in Moscow. Dmitri Kovtun also works for Devyatyy Val, and with Sokolenko, run the company.

A Russian-language website bearing the name of Devyatyy Val reveals the group’s slogan as “Spirit of Perfection”. The group comprises three security firms: Stolitsa-Shchit (Capital Shield), Garde-Iks and Orion, as well as the Lentus consultancy and a training facility. The website says the company was founded in 1993. Devyatyy Val is also a member of a Moscow-based association of private security firms, Devyatichi (Men of the Ninth). The association takes its name from the KGB’s ninth department, which protected top Communist Party officials during the Soviet era. Lugovoy served in this unit from 1987 until the fall of the Soviet Union.

Is Vyacheslav Sokolenko the answer to the question, "Who is Vladimir?" Is Vladimir actually Vyacheslav(aka Volodya )? (1) Vladimir was described as a “tall, taciturn sharp-featured Russian in his early forties”. (2) Vladimir accompanied Andrei Lugovoy to the hotel. (3) Litvinenko told officers that he was suspicious of “Vladimir”. (4) Vladimir was careful to disclose nothing about his identity or why he had turned up at a private get-together. (5) Vladimir apparently pressed Litvinenko to join him in a cup of tea. (6) Vladimir said little during the brief meeting.

Current Headlines 9 of 12

There is a great deal of intrigue, speculation and facts in the media. In this post, I will try to provide a characterization of this work, research and opinion. The investigation has regained heightened visibility due to Russian Investigators in London , the new book, The Litvinenko File: The True Story of a Death Foretold , and a mystery person Pyotr, accusing Boris Berezovsky of conspiracy in the assassination of Litvinenko.

Riddle Wrapped in Cabbage and Put in a Doll Kevin O'Flynn, of The Moscow Times, provides a review of Alexander and Natalya Pankov's new book, Breakfast with Polonium. Mr. O'Flynn suggests that "Breakfast with Polonium" is well-crafted pulp fiction that speeds along despite the fact it hangs on more spy cliches and stereotypes than a Russian riddle, wrapped in a cabbage and then hidden inside a matryoshka doll.


The Laboratory 12 poison plot The TimesOnline prints an excerpt from Martin Sixsmith's new book, The Litvinenko File: The True Story of a Death Foretold. It decribes Laboratory 12 (also known as Kamera-the room) and the similarities between the assassination of Roman Tsepov and Alexander Litvinenko. KGB's Poison Factory, the Kamera

Litvinenko Foundation Refuses Aid to Lugovoy, Kovtun Kommersant reports that Andrey Lugovoy and Dmityry Kovtun plan to seek compensation from the Litvinenko Justice Foundation. Alexander Goldfarb responded by saying that, “These two individuals deserve not a compensation but a life sentence.”

Alexander Litvinenko Killed for Being Friends with Chechens Kommersant describes the London interviews between Boris Berezovsky, Akhmed Zakaev and Alexander Otvodov. Zakaev, believes that Litvinenko might have been killed for cooperating with Chechen authorities. “He was a member of the Committee for investigating war crimes in Chechnya created by Aslan Maskhadov. Litvinenko submitted names of generals guilty of violence against peaceful civilians, and provided documents that compromised Russian authorities, to us.” Russian investigators asked Zakaev about Badri Patarkatsishvili.

Litvinenko Killed Over Blackmail Attempt?
Litvinenko Not The First Faked Allegation Against Putin?
Berezovsky Buying Silence? Once again, AJ Strata, The Strata-Sphere, is providing the best analysis of the Litvinenko mystery. The essays are thorough, but equally important are the views expressed by his blog readers. Strata begins by questioning Berezovsky's motives for offering to compensate those who may have been contaminated. Then he reminds the reader that the polonium-210 trail leads to Berezovsky's desk, literally. He poses the question whether Berezovsky used Litvinenko as a prop to frame President Vladimir Putin.

New theory under consideration in Litvinenko murder case This ITAR-TASS article provides more detail of the mystery witness, Pyotr's interview and background data. The article quotes Pyotr as suggesting that Litvinenko might have been poisoned as one of two witnesses of a bluff that ensured Russian exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky a political asylum in Britain.


Secret Witness in Litvinenko Case Identified, The Kommersant article discloses that Vladimir Teplyuk, who also lives in Great Britain, was to give evidence linking Berezovsky to the killing of Litvinenko, allegedly because Litvinenko knew details of the scheme Berezovsky used to receive political asylum in Great Britain. Teplyuk told Russian television journalists that he knew Litvinenko, who tried to get him to pose as an FSB agent sent to Britain to kill Berezovsky. When he refused to do so, psychotropic drugs were slipped into his coffee and a falsified confession was recorded, which Litvinenko later provided to a London court.

Mystery witness implicates Berezovsky in Litvinenko murder Russian News and Information Agency NOVOSTI, details the Rossiya television interview with mystery person Pyotr (who appeared with his face hidden and voice disguised), suggests Boris Berezovsky was involved in the assassination of Litvinenko.

Sixsmith lifts lid on Litvenko murder Press Gazette reports that Martin Sixsmith exposes the key Russian players, most of whom he has known over the years, to give us the answer to the perplexing question: Who killed Litvinenko? The book, The Litvinenko File: The True Story of a Death Foretold, is due out April 6 and published by MacMillan.


Russian tycoon says he was queried in Litvinenko case Alan Cowell, International Herald Tribune, reports on interviews between Russian investigators and Boris Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakayev. In the article, Berezovsky announces the creation of a Litvinenko Justice Foundation, to be aimed at aiding investigations into Litvinenko's death, preventing "in the future the same terror attack" and helping compensate those who suffered psychological, physical or material harm in the case.

Polonium-210 public health investigation – supporting overseas countries and territories involved The Health Protection Agency held a special conference in London March 27, to share the public health experience of the Polonium-210 incident with front line colleagues from across the world. Details of the 52 overseas countries and territories involved in the public health are included in the report.