Family and friends of poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko are unlikely to cooperate with a Russian investigation into his death, it was claimed tonight.

The funeral of the poisoned Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko was being held at Highgate Cemetery in north London today.

Detectives in the UK investigating the death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko were tonight planning to fly to Moscow in their hunt for clues into the dissident’s poisoning, sources have confirmed.

The offices of an exiled billionaire were sealed off tonight as police investigating the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko found traces of a deadly radioactive substance.

RELATIONS between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin came under strain yesterday when a leading British Cabinet minister criticised the Russian leader’s “huge attacks” on liberty and democracy.

Customers at a restaurant and an hotel visited by a poisoned ex-KGB officer will be tested for the radioactive substance that killed him, health chiefs said today.

A former Russian security agent said to have been poisoned in London continued his fight for life in hospital today.

A former Russian security agent allegedly poisoned in London looks “like a ghost” in hospital, a friend said today.