UK judge: Putin probably approved plan to poison ex-spy
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LONDON - President Vladimir Putin probably approved a plan by Russia's FSB security service to kill former agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died three weeks after drinking tea laced with poison at a London hotel, a British judge said Thursday.
In a lengthy report, Judge Robert Owen said that he is certain Litvinenko was given tea with a fatal dose of polonium-210, which is deadly if ingested even in tiny quantities, in November 2006.
He said there is a "strong probability" that the FSB, successor to the Soviet spy agency the KGB, directed the killing, and the operation was "probably approved" by Putin.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow, which has always strongly denied involvement in Litvinenko's death. Russia refuses to extradite the two main suspects, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun.
