Litvinenko assassins likely to escape justice

‘Dignity and Honor’
Specifically, “Dateline’s” investigation shows that much of the evidence could lead to the former KGB. For years, there have been whispers of shadowy confederations of intensely loyal former agents in groups like Dignity and Honor, nostalgic for the old days of KGB supremacy and devoted to hunting down enemies around the world.

The use of polonium, for example — and in such a large amount — narrows the field of suspects drastically. International regulators say the isotope is produced and stored almost exclusively in Russia.

Moreover, polonium is hard to acquire, dangerous to handle and extremely expensive, said Steve Fowler, a radiation safety consultant who heads Fowler Associates, a radiation processing complex in Moore, S.C. It is highly unlikely that anyone could have acquired the amount used in Litvinenko’s assassination — which Fowler estimated at $2 million to $3 million worth — without the cooperation of some element of the Russian government.

The polonium trail “will all lead to the government institutions,” said retired Maj. Gen. Oleg Kalugin, who for many years was head of the KGB’s operations in Washington.

“It could not be obtained by private individuals,” Kalugin told “Dateline.” “The Russian government agencies release the stuff needed to poison people abroad, including Mr. Litvinenko.”

Although experts say a minuscule dose of polonium can be fatal, the killer or killers used so much — at least 10 times the lethal dose — that they left a wide trail. At least 127 people who may have crossed the paths of Litvinenko, Lugovoi or Kovtun have tested positive for exposure at about 20 sites around London, police say.

Joyal, the Russia security expert, said that was probably done on purpose.

“The substance used in his murder, it’s clear-cut,” said Joyal, former chief of security for the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. “It has to be a state-run or a state-managed operation. ...

“A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin,” he said. “If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you, and we will silence you, in the most horrible way possible.”

The hit list
A few hours before he was poisoned, Litvinenko also met with Mario Scaramella, a 36-year-old Italian lawyer who fashions himself as an international security consultant.

Scaramella had interviewed Litvinenko as part of his own investigation of alleged Cold War links between the Italian government and the KGB, and he has told reporters that he wanted to give Litvinenko information about Politkovskaya’s death.

Among the information was what Scaramella characterized as a hit list maintained by Dignity and Honor, the confederation of hard-line former agents of the KGB. One of the names in the document, a copy of which was obtained by “Dateline,” was Politkovskaya’s. Another was Scaramella’s.

Another was Litvinenko’s.

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