ITV's compelling new drama, Litvinenko, premieres on Monday night and tells the true story of an ex-Russian spy, whose death from Polonium-210 poisoning in November 2006 activated one of the most dangerous murder investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.
The four-part series, which first debuted on ITVX in December, sees David Tennant in the titular role as Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer. Keep reading to learn all about the true story behind the dramatisation.
What happened to Alexander Litvinenko?
Alexander Litvinenko was a former Russian intelligence officer who had fled to the UK in 2000 and was an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.
Litvinenko, who was granted British citizenship and was working for the British secret service, was investigating Spanish links to the Russian mafia around the time he died. The former officer was due to fly to Spain with former KGB officer Andrey Lugovoi but he never made the plane.
© ITVOn 1st November 2006, Litvinenko had tea at a central London hotel with Lugovoi and another former agent, Dmitry Kovtun. Soon afterwards, he fell ill and three days later was admitted to hospital under the pseudonym Edwin Redwald Carter.
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While in hospital, he was interviewed by DI Brent Hyatt and DS Chris Hoar and told them he believed he had been poisoned upon the wish of Vladimir Putin. He died on November 23.
It later transpired that Litvinenko had been poisoned with polonium-210.
© ITVThe following year, the Crown Prosecution Service called for the extradition of Lugovoi to face charges of murder in the UK, but the Russian Prosecutor-General's office declined extradition, citing a constitutional ban.
Lugovoi repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder. He said at the time (via The Guardian): "I consider this decision to be political, I did not kill Litvinenko, I have no relation to his death and I can only express well-founded distrust for the so-called basis of proof collected by British judicial officials."
© ITVAfter Lugovoi himself was treated for suspected radiation poisoning, and his wife and children were contaminated with polonium-210, he claimed that someone was trying to "set him up".
An inquiry later found that Andrey Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun had poisoned Litvinenko, although they denied the claims, and in 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible.
Where is Litvinenko's wife Marina and son now?
Alexander Litvinenko's wife Marina was in her 30s when she followed her husband to the UK, along with their six-year-old son, Anatoly.
After her husband's death, Marina learned English and campaigned for an investigation to uncover the truth about Alexander's death.
© Natasja WeitszMarina still lives in London, according to The Telegraph, and shares a flat with her son, who is now 28.
In an interview with The Telegraph in April 2022, Marina said her biggest life ambition is "to live longer than Putin, and one day see him tried for war crimes and for the murder of my husband".
Marina showed her support for the ITV drama while attending a screening last year. She said (via RadioTimes.com): "It's so important to keep his voice alive, whether it’s [through a] documentary, or whether it's [through a] drama, but he will be alive, with us, and his message, finally, will be heard. Anything that I could use, I tried to do."
© Lewis Whyld - PA ImagesMarina has since authored several books, including The Death of a Dissident.
In February this year, Marina joined an anti-Putin protest outside the Russian embassy and led calls for a Ukrainian victory in the ongoing war.
