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The Documentary: The Polonium Trail

Alexander Litvinenko

31/07/2015 GMT

The Polonium Trail

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The Polonium Trail

Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died from polonium poisoning but who wanted him dead?

Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in 2006 from polonium poisoning but who wanted him dead and why?

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital in 2006, after drinking tea poisoned with the highly radioactive material - polonium. But who wanted him dead, and why? And where did his killers get the polonium from?
 
A year ago the British Government established a judicial Inquiry to investigate. As the Inquiry now ends its public hearings Richard Watson investigates the murky story surrounding Alexander Litvinenko’s death. Richard speaks to people with exclusive insights into what may have led to the polonium killing. Litvinenko’s widow Marina points the finger at the Kremlin. As one interviewee tells Richard, polonium is difficult to get hold of, as only the Russian state produces it. Was it stolen unnoticed, or secretly supplied by Russia?
 
Or did the order to kill Litvinenko come from the world of Russian organised crime? After all Litvinenko had been working with not just the British secret services, but also the Spanish ones, helping them with information about Russian mafia operatives in Spain. So who did want Litvinenko dead? And how were they able to succeed?

(Photo: Former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko pictured in the ICU of University College Hospital, London. Credit: Getty Images)

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