British Intelligence Theory
In July 2007, Russian officials announced a criminal investigation had been opened into allegations made by Vyacheslav Zharko, who had turned himself in to the FSB. Zharko said that he worked for British intelligence since 2002 and claimed that Litvinenko and Boris Berezovsky introduced him to MI6. Zharko alleged that Litvinenko planned a series of terrorism acts including murder of Russian president Vladimir Putin. An FSB spokesman said: "The Brits have been waging an information war against us and now we are responding in kind.".
Lugovoi also accused British intelligence agents of being behind the killing, and claimed MI6 had tried to recruit him to spy on Russia. Later, on 27 October 2007, the Daily Mail, citing unnamed "diplomatic and intelligence sources," stated that Mr Litvinenko was paid about £2,000 per month by the SIS (the British Secret Intelligence Service, better known by its former name – MI6) at the time of his murder. Allegedly, Sir John Scarlett, the current head of the SIS, was personally involved in recruiting him. The claim was dismissed as "nonsense" by Mr Litvinenko's widow. She said:
- "President Putin is providing Mr Lugovoi with his personal endorsement and backing in the eyes of the world. This indicates that Russia has something to hide and adds credence to Alexander's deathbed statement naming Mr Putin as the instigator of his murder."
According to Alexander Goldfarb, a co-author of Litvinenko:
- "Litvinenko was living in England. I don't see what value he could have been to the British security services. Putin's regime believes that there is a British conspiracy against Russia and that Russian exiles in England are working for the security services. They are paranoid."
Read more about this topic: Alexander Litvinenko Assassination Theories
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