Author, Russian Government Critic. He was a Russian-born, British-naturalized citizen who gained fame for criticizing the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After graduating from school in 1980, he was drafted into the army and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1988 he served in the counterintelligence departments of the Soviet KGB and its successor agencies. At a 1998 Moscow press conference, he publicly criticized the leadership of his agency for illegal activities. He was arrested several times on questionable charges and was acquitted or had the charges dismissed on each occasion. In 2001, he left Russia and settled in England, which granted him political asylum. He worked as an author and lecturer and was a frequent critic of Russia's Putin government. In early November of 2006, Litvinenko fell seriously ill while investigating the slaying of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had also been critical of Putin. He died of heart failure at London's University College Hospital. Before his death, he claimed he had been poisoned and dictated a statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a BBC and "Guardian" report, he was actually killed from a poison-laced cup of tea that was served to him in a hotel. The poison was learned to be radioactive Polonium-210. After a Scotland Yard investigation, the evidence led to his statement being true as hotel videos documented certain Russian suspects in the hotel at the time, and forensic findings of the rare poisoning were found in the hotel's kitchen. He was the author of "Assassination of Russia" in 2002 and "My Friend Sasha: A Very Russian Murder," which was published posthumously in 2007.
Author, Russian Government Critic. He was a Russian-born, British-naturalized citizen who gained fame for criticizing the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. After graduating from school in 1980, he was drafted into the army and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1988 he served in the counterintelligence departments of the Soviet KGB and its successor agencies. At a 1998 Moscow press conference, he publicly criticized the leadership of his agency for illegal activities. He was arrested several times on questionable charges and was acquitted or had the charges dismissed on each occasion. In 2001, he left Russia and settled in England, which granted him political asylum. He worked as an author and lecturer and was a frequent critic of Russia's Putin government. In early November of 2006, Litvinenko fell seriously ill while investigating the slaying of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had also been critical of Putin. He died of heart failure at London's University College Hospital. Before his death, he claimed he had been poisoned and dictated a statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to a BBC and "Guardian" report, he was actually killed from a poison-laced cup of tea that was served to him in a hotel. The poison was learned to be radioactive Polonium-210. After a Scotland Yard investigation, the evidence led to his statement being true as hotel videos documented certain Russian suspects in the hotel at the time, and forensic findings of the rare poisoning were found in the hotel's kitchen. He was the author of "Assassination of Russia" in 2002 and "My Friend Sasha: A Very Russian Murder," which was published posthumously in 2007.
Bio by: Bill McKern
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