Explaination that could be be given by USSR and shows that mentality of Russian rulers did not change at all.

Litvinenko knew a lot about KGB/ how Putin came to power, thought he is safe as Queen's subject and did not shut up therefore he was murdered.

Michal, London, UK

It is good for us to assume that the british secret service had no hand in this and that the british government will never involve itself in this kind of activity. However I will not be surprised if they did. The speed with which Litvinenko was granted citizenship raises questions. The british government does not do itself any favours by harboring all kinds of shady characters in this country.

dg, london, UK

This story is much more complicated than at first it seemed to be. Where is M. Poirot to crack this hard nut? Indeed, Dame Agatha Christie was right when she called Scotland Yard "our thick-headed British police". Isn't that typical?

Alex, Honolulu, HI, USA

finally the truth is revealed! why aren't we surprised.

andrew, Paris , France

Andrei, would you care to come over and discuss it ??????

kirk, Rotherham, UK

Let the Great Game begin.

Steve, Chicago,

the police investigation and the the CPS decision to prosecute are procedures free from government influence - a concept that many countries, including Russia, find difficult to comprehend. for this reason, the desperate lugovoy is now firing blanks at M16

david, london, UK

Dear Sirs. Excuse me for my bad English. Everybody here say that Lugovoy, FSB and Russia are guilty in the killing of Litvinenko. Russian FSB had no any reasons to kill him, he didn't anything dangerous, he even wasn't real former KGB agent, he worked as a warden. he was a nought. And now think about who gets benefit from this death? Mr. Berezovskiy gets. Now he tells about Russia as a State of terror, which wants to kill him as Litvinenko. And he is sure that he won't be extradited to Russian prosecution. British prosecution ask Russia to extradite Lugovoy, but it didn't do anything to extradite Zakaev and Berezowskiy, who openly calls for revolution in Russia. How would you like if some terrorists from IRA, killed many Britons hide in other country and tell that they were fair fighters for independence? Like Zakaev does. I think it all is just a political game...

Alex, Moscow, Russia

It does seem credible that MI6 might have something to do with this whole affair. I figure that we will never know the truth, meaning that the cover up-up situation is highly effective up until now. MI6 certainly has the power and the means to cover up cases like this, and then getting and applying polonium-210 is not one of the most easiest jobs to do, again MI6 is highly capable of being able to do this too, and after all it's a dirty world we live in, we should be more than happy we don't know 80% of what really goes on.

Jan, Munich, Germany

I really liked what Lugovoy said how British Government sells its citizenship to Russian people like 'Chinese clothes in the market' and that Berezovsky helped this by selling it for 500,000-1,000,000 pounds.

'The United States supports Britain’s extradition request. This was a serious crime and the matter needs to be dealt with' - even thought it is known that extradition is not possible according to Russian Constitution. So whats the point of all that then?

Is it just provokation on Russian Government? But what are the reasons behind all this? Maybe just a political game.. we will never find the truth...

Sasha S., London, UK

kudos to this guy! the guy knows he isnt going anywhere and is safe in russia! doubt he killed alexander, much of what he says i reckon to be true!

stay put andrei! ur not gonna find anywhere safer than where you at the moment!

Imaad, Bradford, UK

Scott from London: face the reality. There is no freedom of speech in the UK, as it is far too politically correct, and there is no real investigative journalism, which is why journalists do not get killed. There are just as many explosive issues in the UK, but they do not get any coverage.

I am fortunate enough to be able to read Russian, and I believe Lugovoy is not guilty.

Helen Allcock, London,

OLIGARCH: A member of a small governing faction.

In what way is Mr. Berezovsky, or any other exiled Russian billionaire, an oligarch?

Colin G, Doha, Qatar

'Russian James Bond', how much does he look like Daniel Craig!!

SamT, Toronto, Canada

It may have been the Russians. It may have been the British. It may have been that PoloniuM was used on a SPY in reference to PoloniuS...... After all, in Hamlet who was Polonius, what did he do, And what was his fate?....

I Gooddburn, enfield, england

I listened to it live on TV (with a translation). With the press conference scheduled beforehand a few days before the G8 conference it is perhaps unsurprising that it seems to have been held with the sole purpose of inflaming tension and hardening attitudes on all sides. But this was a bizarre performance by any standards. it certainly wasn't that of an innocent man addressing purely criminal charges.

Before, my favourite theory was that this was likely carried out by an out-of-control group of officers hoping to curry favour, and I had no real opinion on Lugovoy's involvement. Today, he seems to have done an exceptionally good job of implicating both himself (by the very fantasy he weaves when all he needs is an alibi) and the authorities (by dragging NGO's into it - a favourite topic of some in government, which anyone acting independently would have been unlikely to add).

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

Pavel: how ridiculous. Despite the claims of the Russian government, Britain is still a free place. Unlike Russia. We have a rule of law, free press (where journalists aren't killed for dissenting from the government line), and so on.

As far as I am concerned, Russia IS the biggest enemy: the Kremlin is increasingly irrational, increasing xenophobic, and doing everything it can to destabilise Europe. Europeans are right to fear Russia and the underhanded tactics it uses to wreck havoc across our region.

Scott, London, UK

lugovoy is under a misapprehension that the secret service in this country can arrange for the met police to obtain incriminating evidence against him and then have the CPS prefer charges against him and request his extradition. these are independ bodies within the UK making decisions based on integrity and autonomy. unfortunately for him, lugovy, having had weeks to assemble his story, is firing blanks

david N, london, UK, UK

lugovoy is a desperate man who has nowhere to turn and has in the last few weeks come up with these fanciful suggestions for who is responsible for murdering litvinenko. even if M16 saw someone with the profile of litvinenko as a valuable asset, which has to be unlikely, why didnt litvinenko point the fingure at the british on his death bed? Berezovsky owed litvinenko his life as the latter was originally tasked when working for the KGB with the murder of berezovsky, about which he was publicly warned by litvinenko prior to his defection. and the story about a run of the mill spanish gang going to extraordinary lengths in using radio active material is simply ludicrous! i wonder why he doesnt want to say all this at the old bailey!?

david, london, UK

I believe The Times has made an error here.

Mr Lugovoy, so far as I know, was not a 'KGB officer.'

He was a bodyguard for the KGB, quite a different thing.

He is in fact a man who today runs a business offering bodyguard services.

John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada

This strikes me as towards a more plausible explanation than the one offered by the Metropolitan Police. The murder of someone so clumsily and controversially, it looks more like a UK version of the anthrax letters, something political was in play, and it does appear that someone wanted to point attention at Russia.

In terms of who wants to tip Russia onto the newspaper front pages for political leverage, that wouldn't be an individual, that wouldn't be a business, it would have to be a rogue state.

D Stanley, Gourge, France

This version is as funny and doubtable as english athourities' one. I think it would be the best way to admit that noone knows who killed mr. Litvinenko. I have no facts and reasons to belive neither Russian nor English authorities.
I can only suggest "Qui prodest", and that sooner be mr. Berezovsky in his "Russia - is the biggest enemy" campaign.

Pavel, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Comedy stuff. I loved the way he discounted a trail of polonium coinciding with his travel route as having been planted to 'taint' him.

These Russians love their political intrigues. Makes them feel big again.

Mark, Woking, UK

Does anyone else feel that we have Russia back to where it was 20 years ago? Today we read this. Yesterday it was about how they have nuclear missiles that can destroy the proposed anti-missile radar in Czech Republic in 10-15 minutes.

David, Edinburgh, Scotland

the secret service is behind it.the english are always very busy. blair "the new head"of the service.jan

vink, breda, netherlands