The news of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, dissident and writer, dying in an England hospital on the 23d of November 2006 was the kind of event that shocked many people all over the world. It is not that Litvinenko, who had spent the last years of his life fighting Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, became famous for his crusade. Yes, he gained popularity and, to some, notoriety for his accusations against Putin and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (or FSB), but what really made the world notice was the manner in which he died. Litvinenko was suspected to have been assassinated because of the noise that he was making. And the mastermind behind this act is said to be Putin himself.

The ramifications of this turn of events were unprecedented in a post cold war perspective. Many newspapers around the world have speculated how the long term effects of this event will affect the relations of Russia with other countries, most especially with the United Kingdom, in whose territory the crime happened. In a post 9-11 scenario where increased security has become de riguer, the ability of some people to actually smuggle a substance that can easily kill Litvinenko is cause for concern.

In order to fully understand what happened to Litvinenko and how Putin got involved in this controversy, we must look back into Litvinenko’s past, his experience with the Russian government, and the events that transpired that turned him from one of the more prominent figures in the FSB to a staunch anti-Putin activist that earned the ire of Putin himself leading to his death at the alleged orders of the Russian Prime Minister himself.

Litvinenko’s history

Alexander Litvinenko started his career after graduating from the Kirov Higher Command School in 1985. In just one year he became an agent of the KGB. A couple of years later he was transferred to Military Counter Intelligence. By 1991, Litvinenko was promoted to the Central Staff, which was tasked to handle counter-terrorism and the infiltration of the growing organised crime situation in the country. In six years, he was again promoted as the senior operational officer and deputy head of the FSB’s Seventh Section. During this time he was given the assignment of protecting Boris Berezovsky, a Russian billionaire.

This is where all of Litvinenko’s troubles began, troubles that would eventually lead to him clashing with Putin himself.

Litvinenko’s accusations

Litvinenko began clashing with the Russian government on November 1998 – a time when Vladimir Putin was the head of the FSB. He, along with five other officers of the FSB’s Directorate for the Analysis of Criminal Organizations accused his superiors at that FSB of planning the assassination of Berezovsky. This public accusation led to his arrest by Russian authorities but he was subsequently released. Litvinenko eventually decided to flee the country, first going to Turkey and eventually ending up in the United Kingdom where he was able to successfully seek political asylum as well as citizenship.

Despite his self imposed “exile”, however, Litvinenko still continued his anti Putin crusade. One of his accusations upon reaching the UK was that Putin’s rise to power in Russia is nothing more than a highly organised coup d’etat done with the knowing involvement of the FSB. Litvinenko pointed out that aon key factor in the FSB’s operations to put Putin to power was fomenting fear among the Russians by bombing a number of apartment buildings in Moscow as well as in other Russian cities. He alleged that these bombings were actually done by the FSB but was made to look like the handiwork of Chechen terrorists. He said that this was done in order to legitimise the Russian government’s decision to fight back by using the military might of Russia against Chechnya.

But this was just one of Litvinenko’s many revelations and accusations. For instance, he also said that the assault on the Armenian Parliament that killed Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian was organised by the Russian armed forces. He, however, had his most controversial revelations at the expense of Prime Minister Putin.

Litvinenko first accused Putin of being involved in organised crime while he was still heading the FSB. More shocking revelations came from Litivinenko in 2006 when he claimed that Putin is actually a pedophile, going as far as to compare him with notorious Russian serial killer and child molester Andrei Chikatilo. In an article Litvinenko wrote in July 2006 regarding his accusation of Putin’s pedophilia, he alleged that Putin’s career was actually stalled after graduating from Andropov Institute because his superiors found out about his secret.

Litvinenko also tried to involve Putin in the assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politskovskaya. He said that Putin personally ordered Politskovskaya’s murder, being a staunch activist and vocal Putin critic.

Litvinenko’s death

Litvinenko was taken ill on November 2006 and was subsequently hospitalised. His mysterious illness was eventually traced to radiation poisoning. He had apparently ingested the highly radioactive substance Polonium 210, which is very hard to acquire. Litvinenko recounted that he met with three former KGB agents on the day that he became sick. Among the agents he met with is Andrei Lugovoi, who was formerly a bodyguard for former prime ministry Yegor Gaidar. Although the three agents denied any wrongdoing suspicion fell on Lugovoi. Attempts were made to have him extradited to the United Kingdom but Russia refused to give him up. Putin himself has come to the aid of Lugovoi and, according to sources, he has said that the request for extradition is “pure foolishness.” Up to now Lugovoi is a free man and there are still no clear evidence on who really killed Litvinenko or ordered the killing.

Bad blood

From the background of Litvinenko and the kind of damaging information that he has been giving to the media with regards to Putin, it is not surprising that Putin is being pinpointed as the mastermind. In the various interviews Litvinenko gave to the media, the articles and the books he wrote, Putin has always been painted as an evil person, to say the least. Even on his deathbed, Litvinenko practically zeroed in on Putin as the mastermind for his assassination. In a statement released after his death, Litvinenko said that "You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed.”

Is there really a good reason for Putin to have Litvinenko killed? Looking at the circumstantial evidence (for the evidence is really circumstantial at best) it would seem that Putin may have a very good reason for ordering Litvinenko’s killing. Putin’s reputation and character has been put into question by Litvinenko’s accusations. Putin could have seen this as a minor annoyance, one of the hazards of the job of being the Prime Minister of a world power. But Putin is also facing mounting criticisms from other fronts. His decisions are being questioned as well as the government’s complicit or implicit involvement in some high profile events. Litvinenko has been acting as a yarn spinner placing Putin squarely in the middle of these events and for a leader that is being buffeted on all sides with such a high level of criticism and accusations, Putin may think that by silencing some of the most vocal critics of his administration he may get a reprieve from their actions, have more success in rebuilding his reputation or have a freer hand in continuing his tactics because no one will oppose him anymore. These are just some of the possible motives for Putin to put a hit on Litvinenko.

But the biggest question remains – did Putin really had a hand in Litvinenko’s death? Conspiracy theorists and anti-Putin activists think so. According to speculations published in some UK newspapers, Litvinenko’s accusation that Putin is a pedophile may have been the last straw for the Prime Minister. It is one thing to be accused of being involved with organised crime, and quite another to be branded as a child molester. Another reason given for the order to kill was revealed by former KGB agent Yuri Shvets. In an interview with the BBC, Shvets said that Litvinenko was able to compile a dossier on a top level Russian figure who is close to Putin. This information was used by a UK company to reject a possible business deal with the said figure, resulting in him losing millions of dollars. Putin himself has been very vocal about the accusations and has said that Litvinenko’s death was a tragedy but he has not see any “definitive proof” that he died a violent death.

According to police investigators all of the signs and clues lead back to Russia. Do the trails lead back to the Kremlin and all the way to Putin himself? No one really knows but unless definite proof is found that would implicate Putin or any of his comrades then all the accusers are just grasping at straws. We may never know who the mastermind behind Litvinenko’s death is.