Poisoned spy's friends 'unlikely' to help Russian investigation

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

They will only talk to investigators if given assurances bythe British authorities over their safety, Alex Goldfarb, a close friend of Mr Litvinenko’s said.

As Mr Litvinenko’s widow broke her silence to talk about her husband’s last hours, Mr Goldfarb made the claims following reports that Russian investigators are to travel to London to question witnesses in connection with his friend’s death.

Moscow’s Prosecutor General’s office has outlined plans to send officials to Britain but was unable to confirm who they would question or when the interviews would take place.

Mr Goldfarb said he had spoken to the former spy’s widow, Marina, as well as billionaire Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen dissident Akhmed Zakayev.

“None of them trust a Russian investigation,” he said.

“They will only talk to the Russians in London if the British request that they do it or to help the British get access to witnesses. Then they will agree to talk to them.

“But there are conditions. One is that any meeting should not take place in the Russian embassy, and there should be police protection.

“The second is that the British should give assurances that the Russian investigators have been screened for any kind of possible poisoning.”

Marina Litvinenko broke her silence this weekend to talk about her husband’s last days as he lay dying of radioactive poisoning.

She revealed his final words to her were: “Marina, I love you so much.”

She told the Mail on Sunday she had placed her trust in the British authorities and did not plan to talk to Russian investigators because she did not believe they would tell the truth.

“I can’t believe if they ask about evidence they will use it in the proper way,” she said.

She also revealed that up until the day before her husband became unconscious and the day before he died, the pair were both “completely sure” he would recover.

She left her tired and weak husband on the Wednesday night but believed she would see him again.

University College London Hospital phoned her the following evening at about 9pm, telling her to come as quickly as possible. But by the time she arrived, her husband had died.

A team of nine Scotland Yard counter-terrorism detectives is currently in Russia to investigate Mr Litvinenko’s poisoning in London last month.

Mr Goldfarb said tonight he feared they were being obstructed by Russian authorities who were “shielding” two “key witnesses”, Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi.

Mr Goldfarb said: “It’s apparent that another crime is unfolding in front of our eyes. This is the crime of cover-up, which may cost the lives of two key witnesses.

“The Russians are shielding them from the British investigators.

“The story abut them falling ill with radiation exposure is pure baloney.”

In London, the police investigation appeared to focus on the Millennium hotel, where Mr Litvinenko met three Russian men, including Kovtun and Lugovoi on November 1, the day he fell ill.

Traces of polonium-210 are reported to have been found in a fourth-floor room there as well as in a cup from the hotel’s Pine Bar.

All seven staff working at the bar on the day of Mr Litvinenko’s visit have been contaminated with polonium-210.

Six Irish people who stayed at the hotel at the same time as Mr Litvineko was poisoned are being sought by officials, it was confirmed today.

More than 200 customers and others known to have been at the bar on November 1 are being offered tests to determine if they have been contaminated with radiation.

Two Metropolitan Police officers working on the murder inquiry have tested positive for polonium-210.

The traces ar said to be “below defined safety limits and it is understood both men are well and continuing with their duties.