Russian Government Response
The press in Russia has offered a number of alternatives to Litvinenko's demise. As one example, Russian state television has taken the view that if Litvinenko knew any important secrets, he would already have made them public during his six-year-long stay in the United Kingdom. According to this view, he was not an important person and not worth a loud political scandal. Also a suspicious simultaneousness between the deaths of the so-called oppositionals and big international summits with Russian participation was noted, along with the question who could be interested in worsening Russia's and Putin's image in front of them.
Vladimir Putin's aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky commented:
| “ | The excessive number of calculated coincidences between the deaths of people, who defined themselves as the opposition to the Russian authorities, and major international events involving Vladimir Putin is a source of concern. I am far from believing in the conspiracy theory, but, in this case, I think that we are witnessing a well-rehearsed plan of the consistent discrediting of the Russian Federation and its chief. In such cases, the famed "qui bono" question has to be asked. | ” |
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, dismissed the idea of Putin's involvement as "pure nonsense". The involvement of Moscow was denied by SVR representative Sergei Ivanov who said:
| “ | From the logical viewpoint and from the 'Who benefits?' viewpoint, I can't see any reasons for the speculation actively being disseminated by the western press alleging this might be the long arms of the KGB or the FSB, There should definitely be a careful and objective investigation. I am sure that it will be conducted and Russia is willing to render any assistance. | ” |
The main explanation put forward by the Russian Government appears to be that the deaths of Litvinenko and Politkovskaya were intended to embarrass President Putin. Federation Council of Russia Speaker Sergey Mironov said that "reports about Anna Politkovskaya and Litvinenko's deaths were released when Putin was meeting with EU leaders in Finland. I don't think the coincidence was accidental". However, Mironov went on to say, "It would be premature to make any conclusions about Litvinenko's death. We must wait until the investigation produces specific results.". Although a recent Russian counter-terrorism law gives the President the right to order such actions, in fact the law in question refers only to "terrorists and their bases" abroad.
Before polonium-210 was identified as the poison, Vladimir Putin made the comment that
| “ | as far as I understand in the medical statement of British physicians, it doesn't say that this was a result of violence, this is not a violent death, so there is no ground for speculations of this kind. | ” |
He also called Litvinenko's letter "a provocation".
Since few people had any doubts about this being a case of poisoning, some commentaries that discussed Putin's "curious" comment interpreted it as a give-away of his involvement. It has now been stated that the Russian government may consider using UK libel laws to silence journalists speculating about the Russian government's involvement.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Litvinenko Assassination Theories, Russian Government Involvement Theory
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