Andrei Lugovoi

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Andrei Lugovoi (Lugovoy) (Russian: Андрей Луговой) is a former Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) operative and millionaire who met with Alexander Litvinenko on the day he fell ill (1 November). He had visited London at least three times in the month before Litvinenko's death and met with the victim four times. Traces of polonium-210 have been discovered in all three hotels where Lugovoi stayed after flying to London on October 16, and in the Pescatori restaurant in Dover Street, Mayfair, where Mr Lugovoi is understood to have dined before 1 November; and aboard two aircraft on which he had travelled.^[1] ^[2]He has declined to say whether he had been contaminated with polonium-210, the substance that led to Litvinenko's death on 23 November 2006.^[3]

1 FSB career
2 Alexander Litvinenko poisoning
3 References
4 External links

[edit] FSB career

In 1987 Lugovoi joined the KGB's 9th directorate which provided security for top state officials. He was a platoon commander for five years and then served as a commander in the Kremlin regiment's training company. In 1991 he was transferred to the personal security unit until his resignation at the end of 1996. During his time in the KGB he provided security for Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, the head of the presidential administration Sergey Filatov and Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev.

Lugovoi went on to work in the private security business. For several years he was head of security at the private television company ORT, then owned by now fugitive tycoons Boris Berezovsky and Badri Patarkatsishvili. In 2001 Lugovoi was arrested and charged with organizing the escape of Nikolai Glushkov, a former deputy director-general of Aeroflot arrested in 2000 on fraud charges.

Lugovoi's company Pershin is involved in private security, soft drinks and wine, and is said to be worth £100 million.

[edit] Alexander Litvinenko poisoning

Main article: Alexander Litvinenko poisoning

On 30 November Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili described Lugovoi as a "close friend" with whom he had been working for 13 years. He said he hoped Lugovoi was innocent, but added that there is "no such thing as a former KGB agent".
On 4 December Lugovoi went into hospital in Moscow for medical tests.
On 9 December Lugovoi was released from the hospital and declared to be in "satisfactory condition."
On 10 January 2007 Lugovoi has left hospital where he was treated for suspected radiation poisoning.^[3]
On 26 January 2007 The Guardian reported that the British government was preparing an extradition request asking that Lugovoi be returned to the UK to stand trial for Litvinenko's murder.^[4]
On 5 February 2007 Boris Berezovsky told the BBC that on his deathbed, Litvinenko said that Lugovoi was responsible for his poisoning. ^[5]