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Kirsty Wark and guests recall the poisoning and death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

For many, it’s a photo of the Russian exile that’s best remembered - it showed him lying in a bed at London's University College Hospital. His hair had fallen out, his skin had lost its colour and pain ravaged his face as he lay fighting for life. Litvinenko was a former KGB and later FSB Russian officer and long-time political opponent of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin who now lived in exile in the UK.

He was the author of Blowing Up Russia, a book that claimed the FSB was behind a series of apartment block bombings in Moscow in September 1999. It is reported to have enraged his former boss, Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko had fallen victim to the deadliest poison known to man where just one millionth of a gram is enough to kill. The casual manner that it had been carried around London’s hotels and restaurants by his attackers led to widespread panic and fears of radiological contamination in the capital.

Whoever set out to kill Litvinenko would have expected him to die in a few days and the poison never be discovered. But he clung onto life for 23 days – giving doctors and Scotland Yard the vital time needed to discover the truth. The murder led to a breakdown in relations between Britain and Russia and political indecision saw it take almost ten years for an inquiry to be held.

Joining Kirsty Wark to recall the events of that time are Alex Goldfarb, family friend of the Litvinenko’s and political campaigner; Sir Ken MacDonald, at the time Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales; Brent Hyatt, a Scotland Yard officer who interviewed Litvinenko; Yevgeny Kanevsky, who followed the story for the Â鶹Éç World Service’s Russian Service; and, Marina Litvinenko – Alexander Litvinenko’s widow.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4