Dmitry Kovtun, accused by the British judiciary of a excessive profile poisoning case, has died on the age of 57, Russian media reported on Saturday.
Kovtun was a former KGB guard and allegedly concerned within the poisoning of the dissident and former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London some 16 years in the past.
Andrei Lugovoi, who can be a suspect and a Russian parliamentarian, confirmed Kovtun’s demise and stated it was as a consequence of COVID-19.
“Unhappy information. My shut and dependable good friend Dmitry Kovtun has all of the sudden died following a grave sickness linked to a coronavirus an infection. That is an irreplaceable and heavy loss for us,” Lugovoy stated wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.
The Russian TASS information company reported that he had died in a hospital in Moscow.
The poisoning of Litvinenko
Final September, the European Court docket of Human Rights (ECHR) dominated that it was “past doubt” that Moscow assassinated Litvinenko.
Europe’s prime rights court docket stated Lugovoi and Kovtun “had been performing on the route or management of the Russian authorities.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the accusations and criticized the ECHR for the ruling.
Based on a British investigation report, Lugovoi and Kovtun had met Litvinenko in a London resort for tea and poisoned him.
The tea was discovered to include the substance Polonium-210, a uncommon radioactive materials.
Litvinenko was residing within the UK after he defected from the Russian safety providers. He was granted UK nationality earlier than his demise.
fb/rt (AP, dpa, AFP)