Russian and British investigators question another witness in Litvinenko's poisoning

Russian and British investigators on Friday were questioning another witness in the radiation poisoning death of former Russian intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, a news agency reported.

Photo: Russian and British investigators question another witness in Litvinenko's poisoning

Vyacheslav Sokolenko, who briefly saw Litvinenko in London on the weekend of Nov. 1 the day when Litvinenko is believed to have been poisoned was giving testimony to Russian prosecutors in the presence of visiting Scotland Yard officers, ITAR-Tass reported, citing unnamed sources close to the investigation, reports AP.

Litvinenko died on Nov. 23 in London after being poisoned with the rare radioactive element polonium-210. In a deathbed accusation he blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin an allegation the Kremlin strongly denied.

The Interfax news agency, citing informed sources, reported that prosecutors also planned to conduct further questioning of another key witness in the case. The report said businessman Dmitry Kovtun, who met with Litvinenko several times, including on Nov. 1, will be interrogated either Monday or Tuesday.

Kovtun was himself contaminated, Russian officials have said, and German police found traces of radiation in Hamburg, where he spent several days on his way from Moscow to London in late October.