A witness in the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence agent poisoned to death by a radioactive substance in London, fell into a coma on Thursday, is in critical condition and shows symptoms similar to those Litvinenko had, a Moscow source said. Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian who met with Litvinenko in London in October 2006, "was able to give important testimony" to Russian and British investigators before slipping into a coma, "after which the Russian investigators decided to launch criminal proceedings on charges of attempted murder," the source told Interfax. The source said Russian investigators would be in contact with their British counterparts in the probe of Kovtun's suspected poisoning
Seven staff working in a London hotel bar where former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko drank before he died from radiation poisoning have been found to have traces of polonium 210, a public health agency said on Thursday. ... "Preliminary results received from seven members of staff working in The Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel on November 1 show that they appear to have been exposed to low levels of polonium 210," the Health Protection Agency said in a statement. ... Litvinenko met Russian businessman Dimitry Kovtun and fellow ex-KGB spy Andrei Lugovoy at the Pine Bar on November 1, the day he fell ill. He died from poisoning from the radioactive isotope polonium 210 on November 23. Kovtun and Lugovoy are now undergoing treatment in a Moscow hospital for radiation contamination.
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"Preliminary results received from seven members of staff working in The Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel on November 1 show that they appear to have been exposed to low levels of polonium 210," the Health Protection Agency said in a statement.
Litvinenko met Russian businessman Dimitry Kovtun and fellow ex-KGB spy Andrei Lugovoy at the Pine Bar on November 1, the day he fell ill. He died from poisoning from the radioactive isotope polonium 210 on November 23.
Kovtun and Lugovoy are now undergoing treatment in a Moscow hospital for radiation contamination.
Dmitry Kovtun, a contact of poisoned Russian ex-FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, is in satisfactory health and media reports he is in critical condition are wrong, a lawyer told Reuters on Thursday. Russia's Interfax news agency reported earlier that Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London on the day he fell ill, was in a coma from radiation poisoning. ... "I just 15 minutes ago spoke to his (Kovtun's) representative, who had spoken directly to him and he denied that information," said Andrei Romashov, a lawyer for Andrei Lugovoy, another witness in the Litvinenko case.
Russia's Interfax news agency reported earlier that Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London on the day he fell ill, was in a coma from radiation poisoning.
"I just 15 minutes ago spoke to his (Kovtun's) representative, who had spoken directly to him and he denied that information," said Andrei Romashov, a lawyer for Andrei Lugovoy, another witness in the Litvinenko case.
08.12.2006, 21.21 MOSCOW, December 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Businessman Andrei Lugovoi, who is a witness in the case of former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvinenko, was not questioned on Friday although his health is good enough, lawyer Andrei Romashov told Itar-Tass. "Representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Scotland Yard did not meet with Lugovoi today, although my client was healthy enough to meet them. We do not know why the meeting did not take place," he said. Lugovoi told Itar-Tass that he is all right. "Doctors say that I am stable. I have been receiving therapy all through the day," he said. Official results of the tests "will be available by the end of next week," Lugovoi said. He asked the press not to speculate on the health of his partner Dmitry Kovtun and himself. Lugovoi has doubts about media reports claiming an allegedly critical condition of Kovtun. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has no information that health of businessman Dmitry Kovtun, a witness in the case of former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvinenko, has exacerbated. "We have no information to the effect," an office representative said on Friday. He abstained from further comments on Kovtun's health. "It is the question of medical secrets, which may be released either by the person himself, or his lawyer, or representatives of the medical establishment whose patient he is," the source said. The media said earlier that the condition of Kovtun is critical. Kovtun was questioned by representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General' s Office and the Scotland Yard at a clinic on December 5-6. "The investigators received evidence to the radioactive nuclide poisoning of Dmitry Kovtun and Russian citizen Alexander Litvinenko at these meetings and conversations with the doctors," the source said. The Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on the charges of murder and attempted murder. Meanwhile, Kovtun's lawyer Andrei Romashov said that his client is stable and his condition has not changed over the past few days.
MOSCOW, December 8 (Itar-Tass) --
Businessman Andrei Lugovoi, who is a witness in the case of former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvinenko, was not questioned on Friday although his health is good enough, lawyer Andrei Romashov told Itar-Tass.
"Representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office and the Scotland Yard did not meet with Lugovoi today, although my client was healthy enough to meet them. We do not know why the meeting did not take place," he said.
Lugovoi told Itar-Tass that he is all right. "Doctors say that I am stable. I have been receiving therapy all through the day," he said. Official results of the tests "will be available by the end of next week," Lugovoi said. He asked the press not to speculate on the health of his partner Dmitry Kovtun and himself.
Lugovoi has doubts about media reports claiming an allegedly critical condition of Kovtun.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has no information that health of businessman Dmitry Kovtun, a witness in the case of former Federal Security Service agent Alexander Litvinenko, has exacerbated.
"We have no information to the effect," an office representative said on Friday. He abstained from further comments on Kovtun's health. "It is the question of medical secrets, which may be released either by the person himself, or his lawyer, or representatives of the medical establishment whose patient he is," the source said.
The media said earlier that the condition of Kovtun is critical. Kovtun was questioned by representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General' s Office and the Scotland Yard at a clinic on December 5-6. "The investigators received evidence to the radioactive nuclide poisoning of Dmitry Kovtun and Russian citizen Alexander Litvinenko at these meetings and conversations with the doctors," the source said. The Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on the charges of murder and attempted murder.
Meanwhile, Kovtun's lawyer Andrei Romashov said that his client is stable and his condition has not changed over the past few days.
