Russian man accused of Litvinenko killing calls European court ruling political

Andrei Lugovoy, one of the men Britain accuses of murdering ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London, told Reuters on Tuesday that a European court ruling which found Russia responsible for the 2006 killing was politically-motivated.

Andrei Lugovoy, one of the men Britain accuses of murdering ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London, told Reuters on Tuesday that a European court ruling which found Russia responsible for the 2006 killing was politically-motivated. A British inquiry concluded in 2016 that Lugovoy, who currently serves as a member of parliament, and another Russian, Dmitry Kovtun, carried out the killing as part of an operation probably directed by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed with the inquiry's findings in a ruling on Tuesday. Moscow and the men Britain accused of carrying out the murder have always denied any involvement.

"I think this decision is absolutely politically motivated," Lugovoy told Reuters in an audio message shared by his assistant. "I am very sceptical about it. I think it is extremely idiotic and damaging to the reputation of the European Court of Human Rights." Kremlin critic Litvinenko, 43, died weeks after drinking green tea laced with polonium-210 at London's Millennium hotel in an attack Britain has long blamed on Moscow.