When Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital in 2006, the suggestion that Putin ordered his murder seemed outlandish. Now it appears probable. This book tells a racy story
On 23 November 2006 a man died in a London hospital. He had been ill for just over three weeks. He had deteriorated catastrophically and, for most of the length of his illness, mysteriously, but by the time of his death the basic facts were clear. He was a former officer of the Russian secret police, and he had been poisoned with a radioactive substance. One other thing was clear to him and to those closest to him: the murder had been ordered, or at least approved, by President Vladimir Putin himself. To much of the rest of the world, that claim seemed outlandish. Over the years, however, the world’s understanding of Putin grew, and so, gradually, did the understanding that a murder like this could have – and probably would have – been commissioned by him. In January of this year, following a months-long inquiry, retired judge Sir Robert Owen concluded that Putin had “probably approved” the killing.
Related: Alexander Litvinenko: the man who solved his own murder | Luke Harding
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