Litivinenko's widow blames Vladimir Putin for using 'nuclear terrorism' to murder her husband
Russian foreign ministry yesterday condemned the "politicisation" of the inquiry, citing "open prejudice" towards witnesses whose testimony did not suit prosecutors.
The widow of a Russian ex-spy fatally poisoned in London said yesterday she believed a British judge-led inquiry had uncovered the "truth" into his death as it heard its final submissions.
Marina Litvinenko said her husband Alexander, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, was killed by Russian agents with the approval of President Vladimir Putin.
Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun are wanted by British police for allegedly poisoning Litvinenko at the luxury Millennium Hotel on November 1, 2006, with tea laced with the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
The inquiry into his death, which has been taking evidence since January and has heard from 62 witnesses, concluded yesterday and is due to report its findings by the end of this year.
"I believe that the truth has finally been uncovered. The murderers and their paymasters have been unmasked," Marina Litvinenko told reporters.
"My husband was killed by agents of the Russian state in the first ever act of nuclear terrorism on the streets of London. This would not have happened without the knowledge and consent of Mr Putin."