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Vladimir Putin 'probably' approved Alexander Litvinenko killing in London

President Vladimir Putin "probably" approved the assassination of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London, a public inquiry has found.

Sir Robert Owen's report said Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun were probably acting under the direction of Moscow's FSB intelligence service when they poisoned him with radioactive polonium 210 at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair in 2006.

The Home Secretary said the Russian ambassador will be summoned to the Foreign Office to be told about the Government’s anger about the case.

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Former Russian spy dismisses Litvinenko inquiry findings

Former Russian spy Andrei Lugovoi has dismissed as "nonsense" the inquiry that painted him and Dmitri Kovtun as one of Alexander Litvinenko's state-sponsored assassins.

Speaking to the BBC, the ex-KGB bodyguard and FSB agent dismissed the findings of the inquiry that said President Vladimir Putin "probably" signed off the murder he was tasked with executing.

Andrei Lugovoi has been named as one of Litvinenko's probable killers Credit: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

He said: "I've seen the nonsense conclusions of your judge who has clearly gone mad.

"I saw nothing new there. I am very sorry that 10 years on nothing new has been presented, only invention, supposition, rumours."

Both men fled back to Russia and did not return to Britain to give evidence at the year-long inquiry, which returned its findings on Thursday.

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Vladimir Putin 'probably' approved Alexander Litvinenko killing in London

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