Europe rights court: Russia responsible for assassination of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko

Written By – Shrey Garg, News Writer

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia is responsible for the killing of the ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in London. The Strasbourg-based court has agreed with the findings of the British enquiry which concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a Russian intelligence operation to assassinate Litvinenko.

The court approved the findings of the 2016 British inquiry which concluded that ex- KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoy and another Russian, Dmitry Kovtun carried out the killing. Litvinenko a strong critic of Kremlin died weeks after drinking green tea laced with rare radioactive isotope Polonium 210 at a hotel in the UK capital.

The ECHR has also made inferences from Russia’s “state of refusal to disclose any documents relating to the domestic investigation.” Fifteen years after the murder of Litvinenko, the ECHR has ordered Russia to pay the ex-KGB officer’s wife, Maria, US $117,304 in damages plus $26,389 in costs. A request for punitive damages was rejected by the Strassbourg court.