Russian President Vladimir Putin honored a man suspected by Scotland Yard of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium almost a decade ago, in London.
Andrei Lugovoy received his medal “for services to the fatherland” for his contribution to developing Russia’s parliamentary system and his active role in lawmaking, according to an announcement posted on the official state bulletin, Reuters notes.
Lugovoy, a former secret-service operative, is now an MP with the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party. He holds the post of deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s security and anti-corruption committee and has worked as a bodyguard for top politicians and businessmen in the past. According to the British authorities, he the prime suspect in the murder of former FSB agent, but Russia refused his extradition.
Another suspect in the killing is Dmitry Kovtun. The three Russian men met in 2006, in a London hotel, shortly before the Litvinenko fell ill. It is believed that the Kremlin critic drank tea laced with deadly polonium-210 during that meeting and accused Putin from his deathbed of ordering his murder.
Putin also awarded the “badge of honor” to Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, for his professional achievements, long service and civic work. Kadyrov received his decoration after he admitted knowing the man who killed Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. He also said that the suspect Zaur Dadayev is a “true Russian patriot” and a “deeply religious man” and may have wanted to punish Nemtsov for defending the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
Kadyrov’s violent methods are known beyond the borders of Chechnya, being accused by human rights groups of abducting and killing dissidents. Last year he told reporters that “74,000 Chechens are awaiting the go-ahead to restore order in Ukraine”. Two months ago he offered again his services to Vladimir Putin to “defend Russia, its stability and its borders”. “We are Vladimir Putin’s infantry and everyone had better know that,” he said in a speech to about 20,000 armed Chechen military volunteers in Grozny.