Dec 28 2006
New Suspect In Litvinenko Incident
There is a new suspect in the Litvinenko incident – a Russian who travelled with Kovtun from Hamburg to London on November 1st and met up with Kovtun in London later that day. And now the admitting this incident is associated with smuggling of Polonium-210 into London
Detectives investigating the murder of Alexander Litvinenko are trying to trace a Russian businessman who flew to Britain at the same time as a consignment of deadly polonium-210 was allegedly smuggled into London.
The man was spotted on a flight from Hamburg sitting beside Dimtri Kovtun, another Russian whom German police are investigating for trafficking the radioactive material used to poison the former KGB spy.
Officers have studied CCTV footage from airports at Hamburg and London and are understood to believe that the two men were travelling together. However, the mystery figure disappeared after leaving Heathrow with Mr Kovtun. The name he used on the flight and the passport presented to immigration officials does not show up on any hotel register in the capital. It is believed that he met up again with Mr Kovtun in London on November 1, the day Litvinenko fell ill.
I can only repeat the facts. The dosage of Polonium-210 that killed Litvinenko was smaller than a grain of salt. There were evidentally three ‘consignments’ of Polonium-210 smuggled into London on Oct 16th, Oct 25th and Oct 31st-Nov 1st. It is incredibly doubtful the Polonium trail reported to date reflects even a fraction of one ‘consignment’, even if each one was the size of a sugar packet. So we have to assume there is more Polonium still to be found.
The fact auhtorities are giving out this information is interesting. It could mean they are on the trail of people that Lugovoi and Kovtun tipped authorities towards. If Kovtun and Lugovoi did enter into plea agreements, which seems reasonable, then who was this mystery man? My guess is they do not know, but he would be associated with the owner of the material being smuggled. If Lugovoi was heading up the smuggling itself, this person would be the eyes and ears of the person whose goods were being smuggled. And that person may be associated with Litvinenko or Berezovsky.
I find it interesting there is no record of this person in any hotels. That implies the man has a home and may be a resident of London or the surrounding area. He could be one of the thousands of Russian exiles in the UK. But it definitely seems leads were provided by Kovtun:
German police are puzzled why no polonium-210 was found on the Germanwings flight that Mr Kovtun and the mystery Russian travelled on to London.
Actually, the answer is quite obvious. It is possible the man with Kovtun contaminated him as they sat next to each other, or as the departed at the airport. There are a myriad of scenarios that could work. Including an effort to plant evidence on Kovtun as a diversion. But it seems the Polonium-210 took two independent paths to London:
The British team is reportedly still seeking more information from Mr Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy, his business partner. Polonium-210 was discovered on two British flights on which Mr Lugovoy travelled to London in October. On October 25, he took BA 875 and stayed at the Sheraton Park Lane. Radiation was found at both locations. It was also found on BA 872, which Mr Lugovoy took on October 31, and at the Millenium Hotel, in Grosvenor Square, where he and Mr Kovtun stayed and where they entertained Litvinenko.
Was it one consignment or two then? Clearly Lugovoi was contaminated on his two trips, and apparently on Oct 16th when he contaminated the Park Lane hotel.
Experts also isolated traces at a third hotel, the Parkes in Knightsbridge, where both men stayed during another trip to London from October 16 to 18 when they flew on Transaero, the Russian carrier.
The more trails the more Polonium that entered the UK in October.
Something doesn’t smell right in that report. If they believe this mystery man travelled with Kovtun and they don’t know who he is, why not simply telephone Kovtun and ask him? Why not produce a picture of this man publically rather than simply speak about him to reporters if they want to locate him?
This is either bogus or it is designed to spook someone into doing something. Something isn’t making sense in that reporting but then again, the reporting around this incident has been terrible from the start.
Crosspatch,
I had the same thoughts, except Kovtun may not know the person by his real name. If he was a Berezovsky associate he could have been travelling under an alias and Kovtun could have met him for the first time right before they flew to Hamburg.
If Kovtun knew who he was he would be in interrogation as we speak. Or, as you say, it could be to let Berezovsky and others know how close authorities are getting.
I get the feeling things may be coming to a head soon.
In smuggling operations the mules are often watched by monitors who are also a part of the operation. They may be known to the mules, or not, or both. If the cargo were as valuable as it seems to have been, there could have been two or three or more watchdogs per mule. This is a means of adding a layer of security to the operation. With a cargo as small as polonium we may assume there was more than watcher.
Yeah, Gotta Know, there is the possibility that they were “travelling together” but Kovtun was unaware they were. Might also explain the trips to multiple security companies. One to be the courier and the other to watch the courier without him knowing it.
Again – a very disingenous assertion of a SMUGGLING RING. Everyone knows the poison used to assassinate Litvineko was SMUGGLED. It had to be because it is an illegal substance for transport on aircraft or other intermodal transportation.
This report in fact substantiates the obvious fact that someone targeted Litvinenko.
There is no polonium floating around the UK or elsewhere. Unless you are also assuming that after the Litvinenko “accident” the smugglers found a better transportation container and have in a very short time become experts at handling the material, and thusly have eliminated telltale traces everywhere they go.
And whatever happened to the alleged “Probable Christmas Terrorist Attack”? Is it morphed into a “Probable New Years Terrorist Attack”?
But don’t we assume already that Kovtun was contaminated by Oct. 16-17? This guy could not have contaminated Kovtun on the flight to London Nov. 1 – it would have had to have been before Hamburg – or am I misreading something above – I have a cold too so this could be fuzziness on my part.
here is what I am responding to AJ:
Actually, the answer is quite obvious. It is possible the man with Kovtun contaminated him as they sat next to each other, or as the departed at the airport. There are a myriad of scenarios that could work. Including an effort to plant evidence on Kovtun as a diversion. But it seems the Polonium-210 took two independent paths to London:
The flight from Hamburg was Nov. 1 so this doesn’t make sense unless they have other footage showing the mystery man with Kovton in London somewhere outside the airport: “it is believed that he MET UP AGAIN with Mr. Kovtun in London Nov. 1”
“Officers have studied CCTV footage from airports at Hamburg and London and are understood to believe that the two men were travelling together. However, the mystery figure disappeared after leaving Heathrow with Mr Kovtun. The name he used on the flight and the passport presented to immigration officials does not show up on any hotel register in the capital. It is believed that he met up again with Mr Kovtun in London on November 1, the day Litvinenko fell ill.”
this guy is described as a RUSSIAN BUSINESS man – so presumably they know that from the name on the passport/airline record. Is the article suggesting he used a false name because if he is KNOWN then they ought to be able to find him leaving England at least on some date….boy is my head fuzzy or is it the article?
“There is no polonium floating around the UK or elsewhere.”
You cannot know this. There could be a great deal of polonium “floating around.” Some of it may even be leaking and leaving a trail, but we may not know about it, or authorities may know about it and are not saying anything publicly.
“Unless you are also assuming that after the Litvinenko “accident†the smugglers found a better transportation container and have in a very short time become experts at handling the material, and thusly have eliminated telltale traces everywhere they go.”
Why not? What is so far-fetched about that, especially if you consider that there had been an accident, and that the smugglers tightened up their operation as a result? Or the polonium could be stored somewhere, waiting to be moved or waiting for the heat to die down.
There is no reporting on whether the man came with Kovtun from Moscow on Oct 28th and then went with him to London on Nov 1st, which I assumed. What is clear is the Polonium trail is huge – and Enlightened, you fail to grasp the fact the size of the trail is many times larger than Litvinenko’s dosage and that three consignments are not required to move a fraction of a grain of salt. When you can explain why there is more Polonium spread around the three countries than required to kill Litvinenko maybe you would have an arguement. But you can’t, and you don’t. Stop getting all upset because the assassination theory has so many holes. Not my fault.
Actually this is perfectly consistent with what I recall of the initial Times reports..the assassin was an unknown man who trailed Kovtun and Lugovoy. And that earlier attempts to assassinate Litvinenko were botched.
I agree with Enlightened–The PO may have been “smuggled in” only for the assassination.
Clarice,
There is way too much Polonium for an assassination. If you could envision a thousandths of a gram (a gram is one sugar packet) then you would understand the difference in what Litvinenko ingested and the Polonium trail we see. And you don’t need three smuggling efforts to smuggle a thousandth of a sugar packet.
Weights and measures. The difference is the same as one ton verses two pounds. Think of two 16 oz cokes verses a medium sized car. That is the scale of one thousandth of a ton. Now assume one sugar packet per consignment and three consignments. That is three cars to the two cokes. Litvinenko ingested two cokes. What we are wondering is where are the other three tons worth of material.
Finally some insight on the actual investigation, we need more reports like this. I dont think its bogus, it will all tie together soon. This was definately smuggling.
We actually don’t know how many smuggling incidents there were. We only know the ones where there were evidently breakages in the containers. Suppose there is a stockpile in Russia.
My theory is that the polonium comes from Iran through Hamburg to London then on to Russia and stored there waiting for pickup by the ultimate buyers. Maybe the Chechens or maybe someone else. Either Kovtun wore the same clothes without cleaning them that he wore to London Oct 16-18 or he was contaminated again in Russia on or before Oct. 28 because the plane he arrived on was contaminated and he contaminated so many places in Hamburg.
This getting extremely convoluted. Kovtun and Lugovoi both go to London on Oct 16-18. Both return to Russia. Lugovoi goes to London on Oct. 25- 28 alone. Returns to Russia alone. Kovtun goes to Hamburg Oct 28-Nov 1. the same day Lugovoi returns to Russia. Lugovoi again goes to London Oct. 31 alone and meets Kovtun there on Nov 1. All three times they contaminated everywhere they went. What is the pattern here?
Neither Kovtun or the unknown man were contaminated on the trip to London on Nov l. That was reported by the Hamburg police who seem to be the only open authorities in this mess.
I think the stuff comes from Iran because of the sloppiness of the container. They are new at this and might not be up on all safety precautions.
However, the other theory is that the Russian government found out about the smuggling and changed the containers in order to mark the smugglers and hopefully kill a few of them. Also to let the cat out of the bag with the west about an attempted coup without getting the Russian government hands dirty. They wouldn’t have cared if a few Londoners also died. This theory could bring together both the smuggling accident group and the assassination group.
Ptooey–It comes from Russia. It came to London. It goes nowhere else except possibly back to Russia.
Wen you stay in teh uk at a hotel, it is not obligitory to show id when you check into a hotel, normally a credit card is requested but it is possible to pay cash in advance. So the fact that his name is not on any register does not mean e did not stay in a Hotel.
It is interesting that the russian autorities did not allow the po checks on the aeroflot planes.
Also, there as not been any mention of the car used by Kovtun that was in an accident.
*spilled drink on keyboard I must replace it*
Does Russia even make this much polonium? I understood they sold the US a certain amount and that was all they made. Why would they make an excess amount? As far as we know they had no other buyer. You don’t make a product if there are limited buyers.
As for the man who traveled with Kovtun, why could it not be Sokolenko? I guess it could be anyone, but he did meet the trio.
As for the lack of a Po trail except at the hotels and places visited by the trio, well, if a buyer got the Po and left, and the identity of this buyer is unknown, then, there would be nowhere for the police to begin looking for a trail unless they want to look for the Po absolutely everywhere. I suppose that they have looked at the transportation hubs such as Heathrow and also at particularly sensitive places. I’m sure they have looked at everyone who was in contact with the trio to see if anyone of them is leaving a trail.
That said, the buyer doesn’t have to leave a trail. The smuggler may have had to, because he could not use the security measures necessary and expect to be sure to travel through security checkpoints easily, since secure containers for Po would probably be looked at very carefully. Once the Po is on location, there is not much reason to not put it in secure containers and once that is done, the trail is likely to disappear.
Lostinthedrift,
No, Sokolenko arrived Oct 30th 0r 31st with his family straight from Moscow. Can’t be him.
Barbara, some of the players were Israelis. I don’t see how Iran could have supplied Israelis with polonium, not wittingly at least.
Can’t rule out rogue Iranian polonium, I suppose, but I think Iran is a longshot.