Russia: Dmitry Kovtun, one of the alleged assassins of Alexander Litvinenko, is dead

Dmitry Kovtun, one of the alleged killers of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, in April 2015 in Moscow AP - Pavel Golovkin

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He was one of the two alleged assassins of the opponent and former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, killed in 2006 in London.

Dmitry Kovtun died this Saturday, June 4, in Moscow from the coronavirus.

The man is a former KGB who has been discreet since this case.

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With our correspondent in Moscow,

Paul Gogo

It is no coincidence that it was the deputy of the Russian Parliament, Andrei Lugovoi, who announced the death on Saturday of Dmitry Kovtun, following a Covid-19 infection.

The duo came to prominence in 2006, during the

assassination of Alexander Litvinenko

in London.

They are the two main defendants in this case.

Both the victim and the two alleged assassins are former intelligence service personnel.

The photo of Litvinenko without hair, white face, on his deathbed had been around the world.

The Kremlin had, through this affair, sent a message to all spies tempted to collaborate with foreign services.

Since then, Dmitry Kovtun, unlike Andrei Lugovoi, had decided to keep a low profile following this episode.

From garbage collector to FSB collaborator

This former bodyguard was a member of the KGB in East Germany before the fall of the USSR.

The man had an unusual life, dreaming of being a star of pornographic films, working as a garbage collector and then a waiter ravaged by alcoholism.

His destiny had therefore led him to collaborate with the FSB in the Litvinenko affair in 2006. On Saturday, when Kovtun's death was announced, his former comrade in crime Andrei Lugovoi described “ 

an irreplaceable and difficult loss

 ”.

►Also read: Litvinenko case: for British justice, Putin is involved

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