Judge: Putin 'probably approved' killing of ex-KGB agent

LONDON -- Almost a decade after former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko lay dying in a London hospital bed, a British judge has concluded who poisoned him: two Russian men, acting at the behest of Russia's security services, probably with approval from President Vladimir Putin.

That finding prompted sharp exchanges Thursday between London and Moscow and a diplomatic dilemma for both countries. With Russia and the West inching closer together after years of strain, neither side wants a new feud -- even over a state-sanctioned murder on British soil.

Judge Robert Owen, who led the public inquiry into the killing, said he was certain two Russians with links to the security services had given Litvinenko green tea containing a fatal dose of radioactive polonium-210 during a meeting at a London hotel.

He said there was a "strong probability" Russia's FSB, the successor to the Soviet Union's KGB spy agency, directed the killing, and the operation was "probably approved" by Putin.

Before he died, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, but Owen's report is the first public official statement linking the Russian president to the crime, and it sent a chilling jolt through U.K.-Russia relations.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the evidence in the report of "state-sponsored" killing was "absolutely appalling." Britain summoned the Russian ambassador for a dressing-down and imposed an asset freeze on the two main suspects: Andrei Lugovoi, now a Russian lawmaker, and Dmitry Kovtun.

Home Secretary Theresa May said the involvement of the Russian state was "a blatant and unacceptable breach of the most fundamental tenets of international law and of civilized behavior."

Moscow always has denied being involved in Litvinenko's death and accused Britain of conducting a secretive and politically motivated inquiry.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the "quasi-investigation" would "further poison the atmosphere of our bilateral relations."

He said the report "cannot be accepted by us as a verdict."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakarova said the British inquiry was neither public nor transparent, saying it had turned into a "shadow puppet theater."

"There was one goal from the beginning: Slander Russia and slander its officials," she told reporters in Moscow.

Litvinenko fled to Britain in 2000 and became a critic of Russia's security services and of Putin, whom he accused of links to organized crime and other alleged transgressions including pedophilia, Owen said in the report.

He was a vocal annoyance, feeding inside information about Russia's secrets to Western intelligence services, and -- the judge said -- was regarded widely within the FSB as a traitor.