Defence minister denies Russian role in spy death

Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov has denied that Russian security forces were involved in the poisoning death of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in London, saying that was not in the Kremlin’s interests, according to an interview.

Litvinenko, 43, a former KGB agent who was a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died on Thursday of heart failure after falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by the radioactive polonium 210.

In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel which was reprinted in the Russian government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Ivanov was asked if Russian special services were involved.

“I rule out that possibility. I don’t see any sense (in that),” he was quoted as saying.

“As far as high-profile killings are concerned, I don’t like that word, because it doesn’t matter who was killed – a politician, a journalist, or someone else – any murder is a disgusting crime in itself,” he said.

Ivanov, a former KGB general, lamented that contract killings were taking place in Russia, but stressed that some of them have been solved.