Marina Litvinenko Reflects on Two Decades Since Husband's Assassination

OPA WIRE, Nov 12 (OPA) — Marina Litvinenko was left to raise their teenage son, Anatoly, after her husband died an agonizing death following a meeting with two former KGB agents at a Mayfair hotel bar on November 1, 2006. The 43-year-old former Russian security officer ingested a lethal dose of radioactive polonium-210 slipped into a cup of tea. A public inquiry later concluded that suspected killers Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun were likely acting on orders authorized by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Years later, Marina found love again with a molecular chemist named Alexei, whom she met in Germany. However, tragedy struck a second time when Alexei was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died in August 2018 at age 66, just 16 days after the death of Marina's mother. The sudden decline and passing of her new partner sparked lingering suspicions, though Marina emphasized she tries to avoid dwelling on conspiracy, noting Alexei had traveled frequently to Russia.

Alexander Litvinenko had fled Russia for the United Kingdom after becoming a vocal critic of the Kremlin and internal corruption within the secret service. He obtained British citizenship just weeks before he was assassinated. The haunting image of a hairless, emaciated Litvinenko propped up in his hospital bed circulated globally, exposing the lethal reach of foreign intelligence operations onto British soil.

Today, one of the primary suspects, Andrei Lugovoy, remains at large in Russia and has never faced trial, while Dmitri Kovtun died of Covid-19 in 2022. Marina continues to preserve the memory of her late husband while navigating the profound personal losses that followed, maintaining that Alexander remains an ever-present part of her life and her family's history.