Dec 08 2006

The Security Firms In The Litvinenko Case

It is interesting that we see a recurrence of ‘security firms’ in the Litvinenko contamination incident. Lugovoi ran a security firm. It seems Kovtun was a partner in one such firm. And I believe the third man at the Millenium Hotel, Sokolenko, worked for such a firm. While Lugovoi went to London three times in October for sure (I saw hints of an earlier fourth trip) each visit left a trail of Polonium at the hotels he stayed at, and the UK security firms he visited:

The focus yesterday was on Mr Lugovoi, a former KGB agent who runs a security firm in Moscow, and his business partner Mr Kovtun. They arrived in Britain by Transaero flight on Oct 16 and stayed at the Parkes Hotel in Knightsbridge, meeting Mr Litvinenko and attending a meeting at the private security firm Erinys.

The following day, Mr Lugovoi met Mr Litvinenko again, eating at Itsu before a meeting at another security firm, thought to be RISC Management on Cavendish Place. Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun then flew back to Moscow. The hotel and both offices tested positive for polonium 210.

The firm Erinys was also visited by Litvinenko on November 1st (they themselves alerted authorities to this visit). These security firms provide security to people as they travel. But they could just as easily provide security to property as well. The fact the hotels and the security firms all show indications of Polonium contamination, as do the hotels, indicates they could be a critical part of this Polonium trail.

For the record, I am not moved by magic pill theories from James Bond fantasies:

Scientists supporting the police said yesterday that the polonium could have been dissolved in liquid before it was slipped to Mr Litvinenko. HPA officials say bar staff could have inhaled it when it evaporated while Mr Litvinenko was being poisoned. This could mean that anyone in the vicinity also inhaled the substance.

Dr Michael Clark, science spokesman for the HPA, said: “If it was some sort of liquid, it could have been – as in James Bond – a little magic capsule.”

Granted, Litvinenko had a lot of Polonium 210 in him, but it doesn’t explain Scaramella’s exposure and the contamination of Berezovsky’s offices prior to the Hotel Bar meeting. Maybe they had some other magic devices to explain those incidents.

6 responses so far

6 Responses to “The Security Firms In The Litvinenko Case”

  1. Lizarde1 says:

    from Axis: Carrying out the reform, Lugovoy leaned on support of the foreign security companies. He personally conducted negotiations with foreign experts, including former high-ranking representatives of secret services.
    As a chief of the security service Lugovoy paid special attention to personnel questions. New employees were accepted only according to recommendation of people whom he personally knew. The key posts were filled with Lugovoy’s former colleagues or their relatives. So, Vyacheslav Sokolenko, his close friend, was Lugovoy’s deputy.

  2. Lizarde1 says:

    Interfax on Luguvoy’s contamination:
    MOSCOW (Reuters) – Andrei Lugovoy, a contact of poisoned Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko, is suffering from radiation poisoning, Interfax news agency said on Friday, quoting medical sources.

    “Disruption in the functioning of some organs affected by radiation nuclides has been found,” the agency quoted a source as saying. It said it had more than one source for the information, which came from Lugovoy’s medical notes.

  3. Lizarde1 says:

    did we know that this building was sealed off and then cleared: 313 Regent Street – picture at sky news

  4. Lizarde1 says:

    did we know this: The Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in Picadilly, where the radioactive substance was found in the penthouse suite – the premises back on to Mr Berezovsky’s offices. Pictures at Sky news

    and that 3 of Berezovsky’s offices showed radiation – down st, and 2 on Grosvenor Square? also pictures at Sky news

  5. Lizarde1 says:

    The only thing I can find at 313 Regent St. is LOT, polish airlines and a hair dresser

  6. Barbara says:

    I think there were at least three shipments and a small amount of contamination at all three. The last one seems to be the biggest and caused Litvinenko’s death and the illness of the others.

    Probably Kovrun and/or Lugovoi brought the polonium into the UK these three times and each time Litvinenko collected them and took them to one of Beresovsky’s different offices. I think Litvinenko took the polonium to Bereszovsky’s office after the spill at the Millenium, met with Scaramella and went back to Bereskovsky’s office to copy the documents Scaramella gave him and then went to the Millenium with the cash to pay the smugglers trailing polonium all along the way. They may not have realized that they had contaminated themselves until Litvinenko got sick. That seems to be the case since Linvinenko was so upset about the documents with his name on the death list. But what about Solenko? Was he in on it also?
    I wonder. What is his condition?