Report: Poisoned spy visited Israel with oil dossier
The Times reports Alexander Litvinenko traveled to Israel just weeks before he died to hand over evidence to Russian billionaire of how agents working for Putin dealt with his enemies running Yukos oil company
On Sunday it was revealed that Mr Litvinenko traveled to Israel just weeks before he died to hand over evidence to a Russian billionaire of how agents working for President Vladimir Putin dealt with his enemies running the Yukos oil company, the report said.
According to The Times, he passed this information to Leonid Nevzlin, the former second-in-command of Yukos, who fled to Tel Aviv in fear for his life after the Kremlin seized and then sold off the USD 40 billion company.
Nevzlin told The Times that it was his “duty” to pass on the file. “Alexander had information on crimes committed with the Russian Government’s direct participation,” he was quoted by The Times as saying.
“He only recently gave me and my attorneys documents that shed light on the most significant aspects of the Yukos affair.”
Investigators have told The Times that Mr Litvinenko had apparently uncovered “startling” new material about the Yukos affair and what happened to those opposing the forced break-up of the company.
The report said several figures linked with Yukos are reported to have disappeared or died in mysterious circumstances while its head, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and others have been jailed.
The Times said that originally it was Mr Litvinenko’s vocal opposition to President Putin’s rule that led to accusations of Russia’s secret service involvement in his death, but police are investigating whether he made enemies through his links with a number of oligarchs.
Friends of the former spy have claimed that on his deathbed Litvinenko named a number of men linked to the Kremlin who he claimed were targeting him.
