The Kremlin opponent died in 2006, weeks after drinking green tea mixed with polonium-210 at the Millennium Hotel in London, where he met Kovtun and the other suspect, Andrei Lugovoy.

Dmitri Kovtun, one of two Russian men accused by the UK of having poisoned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, died of Covid-19 in a Moscow hospital, Russian news agency TASS revealed on Saturday.

Litvinenko died weeks after drinking green tea mixed with polonium-210 at London’s Millennium Hotel, where he met Kovtun and the other suspect, Andrei Lugovoi.

British investigators found traces of polonium in places in London where the two men were, including in offices, hotels, planes and at Arsenal’s football stadium. The two men denied being responsible for the poisoning and Russia refused to extradite them for trial.

Litvinenko, a British citizen, was a former member of the KGB who became an outspoken opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On his deathbed, he accused Putin of ordering him to be killed, but the Kremlin has always denied any involvement.

A judge who participated in a British inquiry into the case concluded in 2016 that the murder was an operation carried out by the Russian spy agency FSB that was likely approved by its director at the time, Nikolai Patrushev, and by Putin himself.

TASS news agency quoted Lugovoi, now a member of the Russian parliament, as saying he was mourning the death of a “close and faithful friend”.

Source: With Agencies