Russia responsible for killing of Alexander Litvinenko, European rights court rules

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the 2006 killing of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who died an agonizing death after he was poisoned in London with Polonium 210, a rare radioactive isotope.

Kremlin critic Litvinenko, 43, died weeks after drinking green tea laced with polonium-210 at London's plush Millennium Hotel in an attack Britain has long blamed on Moscow.

In its ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded Russia was responsible for the killing.

"It found that Mr. Litvinenko's assassination was imputable to Russia," its statement said.

Russia has always denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death, which plunged Anglo-Russian relations to a post-Cold War low.

A lengthy British inquiry concluded in 2016 that Russian President Vladimir Putin probably approved a Russian intelligence operation to murder Litvinenko.

It also found that former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoy and another Russian, Dmitry Kovtun, carried out the killing as part of an operation probably directed by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.