Andrey Konstantinovich Lugovoy (Russian: Андре́й Константи́нович Лугово́й; b. September 19, 1966, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR) is a Russian politician and businessman and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation for the LDPR. He is a former KGB bodyguard and the ex-head of the security firm "Ninth Wave."
He is wanted by British police on suspicion of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Russia has rejected the request for his extradition.[1]
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Born in 1966 in Baku, Lugovoy attended the elite Soviet military command academy in Moscow.[2][3] In 1987, Lugovoy 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 Federal Protective Service of Russia until his resignation at the end of 1996. During this time he provided security for Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, the head of the presidential administration Sergey Filatov and Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev.
Lugovoy 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, Lugovoy was arrested and charged with organizing the escape of Nikolai Glushkov, a former deputy director-general of Aeroflot arrested in 2000 on fraud charges.
Lugovoy met with Litvinenko on the day Litvinenko fell ill (November 1, 2006). Litvinenko died later in November from radiation poisoning caused by polonium-210, and on May 22, 2007 British officials charged Lugovoy with Litvinenko's murder, announcing they would seek his extradition from Russia. Russia declined to extradite Lugovoy, citing that extradition of citizens is not allowed under the Russian constitution. Russia said that they could take on the case themselves if Britain provided evidence against Lugovoy but that Britain has not handed over any evidence. The head of the investigating committee at the General Prosecutor's Office said Russia has not yet received any evidence from Britain on Lugovoy. "We have not received any evidence from London of Lugovoy's guilt, and those documents we have are full of blank spaces and contradictions."[4] To the contrary, he became very popular in Russia as a "hero" of Litvinenko murder controversy, which skyrocketed his political career.
Lugovoy had visited London at least three times in the month before Litvinenko's death and met with him four times. Lugovoy met with Litvinenko on the day he fell ill (November 1). Traces of polonium-210 have been discovered in all three hotels where Lugovoy stayed after flying to London on October 16, in the Pescatori restaurant in Dover Street, Mayfair, where Lugovoy is understood to have dined before November 1, and aboard two aircraft on which he had travelled.[5][6] He has declined to say whether he had been contaminated with polonium-210, the substance that led to Litvinenko's death on November 23, 2006.[7]
Lugovoy accused British intelligence agents of being behind the killing, and claimed MI6 had tried to recruit him to spy on Russia.[8] On October 27, 2007, the Daily Mail, citing unnamed "diplomatic and intelligence sources", stated that Litvinenko was paid about £2,000 per month by MI6 at the time of his murder.[9]
Following the interest in Lugovoy in regards to Litvinenko's death, on September 15, 2007, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), announced that Andrey Lugovoy would be in the second place after Zhirinovsky on his party's candidate list for the Duma election. This meant that Lugovoy could become a Russian MP in December 2007 and acquire parliamentary immunity.[18] Lugovoy himself confirmed that he would take part in the following Duma election[19] and on September 17, 2007, during a Liberal Democratic Party of Russia meeting, has also said he would like to bid for the Kremlin run.[20] On reacting to Litvinenko's death, Zhirinovsky said: Any traitor must be eliminated using any methods. If you have joined the special services to work, then you should work, but to betray, to run away abroad, to give up the secrets you learned while working — all of this looks bad.[21] Sergei Abeltsev, Zhirinovsky's former bodyguard and State Duma member from the LDPR, also stated: The deserved punishment reached the traitor. I am sure his terrible death will be a warning to all the traitors that in Russia the treason is not to be forgiven. I would recommend to citizen Berezovsky to avoid any food at the commemoration for his crime accomplice Litvinenko.[22]
On December 10, 2007, British Ambassador in Moscow Tony Brenton voiced regret over Andrey Lugovoy's election to the State Duma, saying: "It is a pity that a man wanted for murder gains political recognition. It does Russia no good at all to have Lugovoy there in the parliament. It continues the suspicion. If he steps a foot out of Russia he will be arrested. We want him."[23]
In December 2008 Lugovoy voiced support for harsher laws against dissent in Russia. He told the Spanish newspaper El País: "If someone has caused the Russian state serious damage, they should be exterminated [...] Do I think someone could have killed Litvinenko in the interests of the Russian State? If you're talking about the interests of the Russian State, in the purest sense of the word, I myself would have given that order." He then clarified himself: "I'm not talking about Litvinenko but about any person who causes serious damage."[24] He named President Saakashvili of Georgia and the KGB defector Gordievsky as examples.[25]
On March 13, 2009 LDPR announced they plan to nominate Lugovoy for the elections of Mayor of Sochi.[26] However, on March 24 Lugovoi announced his decision not to run and instead to remain an MP in the State Duma.[27]