Poisoning by Drugs, Medicaments and Biological Substances Codexery

Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko

First confirmed lethal polonium-210 poisoning, causing diplomatic crisis.

23 November 2006 was the date of his death from polonium-210 poisoning; this made him the first person known to have died from lethal acute radiation syndrome caused by that isotope.[1]

Quick Facts

Date of poisoning
1 November 2006
Date of death
23 November 2006
Estimated intake
4.4 GBq
Median lethal dose ingestion
around 238 μCi or 50 nanograms
Multiple of lethal dose
200 times the median lethal dose

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Litvinenko and several other Russian intelligence officers stated in 1998 that they had been ordered to kill businessman Boris Berezovsky.[2] In his books, Litvinenko alleged that the FSB organized the 1999 Russian apartment bombings to bring Vladimir Putin to power.[3] He fell ill that evening and was hospitalized on 3 November.[4][5] The poison was identified as polonium-210 after a scientist recognized its gamma ray signal.[6]

Litvinenko died on 23 November at University College Hospital in London.[7] A 2016 UK public inquiry found that Lugovoy and Kovtun were responsible for the poisoning and that their actions were probably approved by President Putin.[8] A September 2021 ruling from the European Court of Human Rights assigned responsibility for Litvinenko's killing to Russia.[9][10]

What the cited sources add

The BBC reported that the poison was identified when a scientist who had worked on Britain's early atomic bomb programme overheard a discussion about a small gamma ray spike and recognized it as polonium-210.[11] The Guardian reported that the postmortem examination was "probably the most dangerous ever conducted in the western world," with pathologists wearing two protective suits and filtered hoods.[12] Deutsche Welle noted that Litvinenko's case is probably the first known poisoning of a Kremlin critic abroad since the collapse of the Soviet Union.[13] The same source stated that a radioactive isotope was an unlikely murder weapon for common criminals and must have come from a reactor under state control.[14]

Luke Harding, a journalist, characterized the assassins' actions as "idiotic, verging on suicidal" given their careless management of a leaking polonium container.[15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Poison, spies and businessmen: The Litvinenko murder case 15 years on", Deutsche Welle, 2021-11-24; Naughton, "British police arrive in Moscow to hunt for spy death clues", The Times, 4 December 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Poison, spies and businessmen: The Litvinenko murder case 15 years on", Deutsche Welle, 2021-11-24 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cowell, "Alexander Litvinenko lived and died in world of violence and betrayal", International Herald Tribune, 3 November 2006; "Poison, spies and businessmen: The Litvinenko murder case 15 years on", Deutsche Welle, 2021-11-24; Johns Hopkins University and Hoover Institute scholar David Satter described this controversy in the United States House of Representatives: "With Yeltsin and h; "Russia Denies Involvement in 1999 Armenian Parliament Shooting", 12 May 2005; Russia and Islam are not Separate: Why Russia backs Al en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Harding, "Litvinenko postmortem 'most dangerous ever in western world'", The Guardian, 28 January 2015; "Litvinenko: A deadly trail of polonium", BBC News, 28 July 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alan Cowell, The Terminal Spy; Harding, "Litvinenko postmortem 'most dangerous ever in western world'", The Guardian, 28 January 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Litvinenko: A deadly trail of polonium", BBC News, 28 July 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Poisoned Russian former spy dies", CNN, 23 November 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "President Putin 'probably approved Litvinkenko murder'", BBC News, 21 January 2016; "Report", The Litvinenko Inquiry (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edwards, "We Know KGB Spy Poisoner", Daily Mirror, 8 January 2007; Faulconbridge, "Russia was behind Litvinenko assassination, European court finds", Reuters, 21 September 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Russia responsible for Litvinenko killing - European court", BBC News, 21 September 2021; "Treaty list for a specific State: Russian Federation", Council of Europe; "Judgment Carter v. Russia - Russia was responsible for assassination of Aleksandr Litvinenko in the UK", European Court of Human Rights, 21 September 2021; Siddique, "Russia responsible for Alexander Litvinenko death, European court rules", The Guardian, 21 September 2021; Faulconbridge, "Russia was behind Litvinenko assassination, European court finds", en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Litvinenko: A deadly trail of polonium", BBC News, 28 July 2015. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
  12. Harding, "Litvinenko postmortem 'most dangerous ever in western world'", The Guardian, 28 January 2015. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  13. "Poison, spies and businessmen: The Litvinenko murder case 15 years on", Deutsche Welle, 2021-11-24. facts only, no text reused. dw.com
  14. Siddique, "Russia responsible for Alexander Litvinenko death, European court rules", The Guardian, 21 September 2021. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  15. Wikipedia, "Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Harding, "Alexander Litvinenko and the most radioactive towel in history", The Guardian, 6 March 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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