Vladimir Putin, known for opportunistically taking off his shirt while leading Russia, has now been connected to the 2006 assassination of a former Russian spy. Sir Robert Owen, former judge of the High Court of England and Wales, revealed the findings in a 300-page inquiry report on Thursday. The report asserts that Russian officials acted in response to what they deemed to be a betrayal of the country, according to ABC News.
Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy, was killed in London via "radioactive poison" nearly ten years ago. Litvinenko was reportedly "kicked out" of the Russian intelligence agency in 1998 after making various accusations of illegal activity, at which point he moved to London. "Taking full account of all the evidence and analysis available to me," Owen writes in his report, "I find that the FSB operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko was probably approved by [then-FSB chief] Mr. [Nikolai] Patrushev and also by President Putin." Litvinenko suddenly fell ill weeks before his death, with authorities only recognizing the presence of "extremely high levels" of a radioactive poison until it was too late.
The alleged assassination, according to Owen's report, was carried out by Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun. Russia, however, has already denied these allegations. "U.K. authorities create a dangerous precedent when they use their domestic legal system in a politically-laden investigation," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson tells ABC.
Litvinenko reportedly accused Putin of ordering the murder shortly before his death, the Guardian reports. From his deathbed, Litvinenko told authorities that the call "could have been given by only one person," referring to Putin. Though these alleged findings will create obvious tension between the two nations, experts argue there are "important other fish to fry" involving Russia / U.K. relations.
