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The Russian state was behind the killing of the former secret agent Alexander Litvinenko, a British senior security official has disclosed

08 July 2008 08:40 (UTC +04:00)

Litvinenko, former officer of Russian Federal Security Service and implacable rival to the former president Vladimir Putin, was poisoned in London in 2006. British investigators supposed he was poisoned by the former KGB bodyguard Alexander Lugovoi. The source told BBC that under the Putinâ€™s power, Federal Security Service was completely free to hold operations abroad. The British intelligence service MI5 prevented assassination attempt against another rival of Vladimir Putin â€“ Boris Berezovsky last summer. MI5 director Jonathan Evans expressed serious concern over the Russian spiesâ€™ activity in the United Kingdom despite the end of Cold War in November 2007. According to the intelligence reports, there are about 30 Russian spies working at the Russian diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom.