Chapter 3: In the United Kingdom

¶3.94 The Litvinenko family lived in the UK for six years before Mr Litvinenko's death on

23 November 2006. I heard a great deal of evidence about Mr Litvinenko's work and campaigning activities during this period, together with other aspects of his life that may have been connected to his death. I will address these matters in detail in due course. In this chapter I propose to give a brief outline of the evidence that I have heard about the family's life during those six years.

¶Immigration status 3.95 As I have indicated, Mr Litvinenko claimed asylum on behalf of himself and his family

when they first arrived in the UK. Marina Litvinenko's evidence was that Mr Litvinenko was interviewed for a lengthy period by immigration officers at Heathrow on the day of their arrival. Thereafter he worked with George Menzies, the solicitor whom Mr Goldfarb had contacted whilst they were on their way to the UK, to prepare his claim. The Home Office granted the family's asylum claim in May 2001.79

¶3.96 Marina Litvinenko gave evidence that when they were granted asylum, the family

took up the option of changing their names. She took the name of Marie Anne Carter, Mr Litvinenko the name of Edwin Redwald Carter and Anatoly that of Anthony Carter.80

¶3.97 In 2002 the family were issued with travel documents (in their new names), which

enabled them to travel away from the UK. Marina Litvinenko said that the first holiday they took, in the summer of 2002, was back to the hotel in Spain where she and Anatoly had stayed in 2000, and where they had taken the decision to leave Russia permanently.81

¶3.98 In 2006 the family became eligible for naturalisation as British citizens. They made

an application and were granted citizenship at a ceremony at Haringey civic centre on 13 October 2006. One thing that is clear on the evidence that I have heard is that Mr Litvinenko was delighted to have become a British citizen. Marina Litvinenko said that he flew an English flag from their balcony during the World Cup in the summer of 2006 – he was, she said, "very proud to be British, … and he was very proud for his son to be British and having his future in England".82 There was, of course, a darker side to this moment. As we shall see, one of the reasons that Mr Litvinenko was so pleased to be granted British citizenship was that it made him feel safer. Ironically, the ceremony took place only a few weeks before he was fatally poisoned.

¶Accommodation 3.99 I have already referred to the evidence that Mr Berezovsky funded the Litvinenko

family's escape from Russia. Marina Litvinenko stated that, while she had been in Spain and trying to decide whether or not the family should leave everything behind them in Russia, she had spoken to Mr Berezovsky, who had promised that he would support them.83 On the evidence that I have heard, this was a promise that, at least in broad terms, Mr Berezovsky fulfilled.

¶The Litvinenko Inquiry

¶3.100 Mr Berezovsky provided accommodation for the family. After a few days in a hotel and

then an aparthotel, the family moved into a rented flat in Kensington that was paid for by Mr Berezovsky. They stayed there for two years. In about 2002 they moved to the house in Muswell Hill,¹⁴⁰¹⁴⁰ Nathwani 18/101 Glushkov 17/46-48 Mascall 12/4-5; 12/9 Osier Crescent, where they were living at the time of Mr Litvinenko's death. Marina Litvinenko's evidence was that this house was owned by one of Mr Berezovsky's companies. They did not pay any rent for the house, but they did pay all the bills.84

¶3.101 I also heard evidence that Mr Berezovsky employed Mr Litvinenko to work for him. Both

Marina Litvinenko and Mr Goldfarb said that payments were made to Mr Litvinenko by way of regular grants from the International Foundation for Civil Liberties, which I have heard was funded by Mr Berezovsky and operated by Mr Goldfarb.85 There was also some evidence that in due course Mr Berezovsky reduced the payments that he was making to Mr Litvinenko. It has been suggested that this led to a falling out between the two men. I will return to that issue below.

¶Medical history 3.102 Mr Litvinenko was, according to the evidence that I have heard, an extremely healthy

man. In contrast to many of his colleagues in the FSB, he did not drink or smoke. He took regular exercise. Marina Litvinenko said that she had registered the family with a local medical practice following their move to Muswell Hill in 2002, but she did not think that Mr Litvinenko had ever been to see the general practitioner (GP) in the subsequent years, although she did remember one occasion when a private doctor had come to see him about a lower back problem.86

¶3.103 A statement was read to the Inquiry from Dr Rebecca Hatjiosif, who is a GP at that

practice. She produced Mr Litvinenko's medical notes, which I received in evidence.87 Dr Hatjiosif stated that Mr Litvinenko had been registered with her practice in May 2003 and gave evidence which confirmed Marina Litvinenko's recollection that he had not thereafter had any contact with the surgery.88

¶Work and school 3.104 Marina Litvinenko stated that both she and her husband attended language school in

Kensington for the first two years that they were in London. By 2004, her English was good enough to enable her to secure a job as a dance teacher at a David Lloyd club in Finchley. She said that she also taught at a language school for Russian children.

¶3.105 All the evidence I have heard is that Mr Litvinenko's spoken English was markedly

worse than his wife's, and that she was being over modest when she told me that her English was "maybe… a little bit better" than his.89 When Dean Attew first met Mr Litvinenko in 2004, he found his English to be "extremely limited". Mr Attew did think that Mr Litvinenko's English had improved considerably by 2006, but he observed that:

¶Part 3 | Chapters 1 to 5 | Alexander Litvinenko

"there was always, if I may say, a distinct difference between Marina who had clearly taken on board the English language and had progressed very quickly and Sasha, I think, took a little bit longer."⁹⁰⁹⁰ Attew 13/15-16 Scaramella 27/78-93; INQ018922 INQ022370

It appears from the evidence of other witnesses, for example Tim Reilly and Alexander Tabunov, that even in 2006 Mr Litvinenko was still in the habit of seeking out Russian speakers in order to talk in his mother tongue. And when Mr Litvinenko was interviewed by the Metropolitan Police Service when he was in hospital after the poisoning, it was necessary for him to be assisted by an interpreter.

¶3.106 Anatoly Litvinenko started school in London in 2001. Marina Litvinenko's evidence

was that his school fees were met by Mr Berezovsky, although she added that there was a reduction in these payments after 2003.91

¶Close friends 3.107 Mr Litvinenko had a number of friends and associates in London, including some,

such as Mr Berezovsky and Mr Goldfarb, who have already featured in this narrative. I will refer to others in due course.

¶3.108 At this stage, I propose simply to introduce two men with whom Mr Litvinenko developed particularly strong friendships during this period.

¶3.109 The first of these men was Vladimir Bukovsky. Mr Bukovsky, who came to give evidence

to the Inquiry, was a Russian dissident who had spent many years in detention in Soviet Russia before being released to the West in 1976 in exchange for the general secretary of the Chilean Communist Party. It seems that either Mr Goldfarb or Mr Berezovsky put Mr Litvinenko in touch with Mr Bukovsky shortly after the family's arrival in the UK. The evidence from both Marina Litvinenko and Mr Bukovsky himself was that, thereafter, the two developed a very strong friendship. Mrs Litvinenko described Mr Bukovsky as Mr Litvinenko's "guru", and the "greatest contact" that he had.92 Mr Bukovsky said that he talked to Mr Litvinenko about the history of KGB repression during the twentieth century, of which Mr Litvinenko had previously been unaware. He said that Mr Litvinenko would sometimes telephone him "20,³⁰³⁰ BLK000253 (page 3) Goldfarb 5/122 Shvets 24/56-58 INQ006201 (page 15) INQ022423; INQ022433 times a day, including the night time" and that Mr Litvinenko also travelled to see him at his home.93 It is clear to me that Mr Litvinenko's discussions with Mr Bukovsky were highly influential in the development of his political views.

¶3.110 The second of Mr Litvinenko's very close friends was Akhmed Zakayev. Mr Zakayev

arrived in London in 2002 and claimed asylum. Like Mr Litvinenko, he was supported by Mr Berezovsky. Mr Zakayev was introduced to Mr Litvinenko by Mr Berezovsky, and Mr Zakayev subsequently chose to live with his family in a house very close to the Litvinenko's house in Muswell Hill. As Mr Zakayev put it in evidence, "Chechen people first choose the neighbour and then they buy the house. That's exactly what I did." He said that the two families became "very, very big friends, very close friends", who would see each other almost every day.94 Again, it is clear to me that his friendship with Mr Zakayev was an important influence on Mr Litvinenko's life in the years between 2002 and 2006. It was during this period, and no doubt a result of this friendship, that

¶The Litvinenko Inquiry

Mr Litvinenko became increasingly committed to the Chechen cause, a cause for which he campaigned publicly. On a more personal level, Mr Litvinenko decided at the end of his life to convert to Islam, a process that Mr Zakayev arranged for him on his deathbed.

¶Part 3 | Chapters 1 to 5 | Alexander Litvinenko