Radiation found among ex-spy's German contacts

German police said today that they had found traces of radiation at two sites in and near Hamburg linked to a contact of poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

Police said they found contamination at the Hamburg apartment of the ex-wife of Dmitry Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London on November 1, the day the former spy is believed to have fallen ill.

They also said an initial scan had shown contamination at another property linked to Kovtun in Haselau, west of the port city.

Police say they began their checks following media reports that Kovtun had flown to London from Hamburg.

Specialists found no trace of polonium-210, the rare radioactive substance that killed Litvinenko, at the apartment of Kovtun himself in the Hamburg district of Ottensen.

However, police said in a statement today they found “contamination that makes a fine examination necessary” at two locations in an apartment in the same building used by Kovtun’s ex-wife.

They said during the night they had found indications that there had been a source of radiation in the apartment, but added that they had not found the source of radiation.

Police later said they sealed off a property in Haselau, outside Hamburg, for further tests after finding traces of contamination there. They gave no details of the building.

Police spokeswoman Ulrike Sweden said early today that it was unclear whether Kovtun had returned to the German city after meeting Litvinenko.

She said it was possible that either a person or an object could have been the source of radiation in the Hamburg apartment.

While German authorities were in contact with British police, the search was “purely protective” and not part of any investigation against Kovtun, Sweden said.

Police have said the traces found so far represent no health risk to local residents. However, they said that about 30 people who live in the Hamburg apartment building would have to vacate it while tests continue.

Kovtun, one of two Russians who met Litvinenko at London’s Millennium Hotel, is reportedly being treated in Moscow, also for radiation poisoning.