Kremlin dismisses poisoning allegations
A senior Kremlin spokesman dismissed allegations that Russia’s government was involved in the alleged poisoning of former security officer Alexander Litvinenko as “sheer nonsense.”
“It is nothing but sheer nonsense,” Dmitry Peskov said, adding that he would not comment on the alleged poisoning itself.
Col Litvinenko, a former KGB and Federal Security Service agent, is fighting for his life in a London hospital after apparently being given the deadly poison thallium.
Photographs released by the hospital showed a wan man in a green hospital gown, his bald head propped up by pillows, his arm hooked to an IV drip. Thallium causes hair loss and interferes with the cardiovascular and nervous systems, attacking the vital organs.
Litvinenko’s condition deteriorated yesterday, and he was moved to intensive care.
His white cell count is down to nearly zero, said Dr John Henry, a clinical toxicologist involved in his care.
“It shows his bone marrow has been attacked and that he is susceptible to infection,” Henry said.
British police have said they are awaiting the results of toxicology tests.
Litvinenko, a fierce Kremlin critic, has accused the Russian government of masterminding the 1999 Moscow bombings that killed more than 300 people and other crimes.
He had been looking into the killing of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and told reporters last week that he fell ill on November 1 following a meal at a sushi restaurant in London with a contact who claimed to have details about the murder.
The Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, one of the successor agencies to the KGB which oversees most of Russia’s foreign intelligence operations, denied any involvement in Litvinenko’s alleged poisoning.
“All accusations levelled against the foreign intelligence service at the very least are unconvincing,” SVR spokesman Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
