The man accused of murdering Alexander Litvinenko looks certain to enter Russia’s Parliament after announcing his candidacy for an ultra-nationalist party yesterday.

Andrei Lugovoy said that he had been placed second on the electoral list for the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) in elections that take place in December.

The nomination virtually guarantees him a place in the Duma and immunity from prosecution in Russia.

President Putin has refused to extradite the former KGB security guard to stand trial in Britain, citing a constitutional ban.

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However, prosecutors had said that a trial was possible in Russia if the Crown Prosecution Service provided sufficient evidence.

That prospect looks nonexistent now, since it requires a special vote of the Duma to lift a deputy’s immunity.

Any request from prosecutors for a vote would give Mr Lugovoy ample advanced warning of his arrest.

The LDPR is led by the eccentric nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who described Mr Lugovoy yesterday as a victim of British intelligence.

His antics in the Duma, which have included fist fights, have earned Mr Zhirinovsky a reputation as a clownish figure but he supports Mr Putin and he would not have nominated Mr Lugovoy without the knowledge of the Kremlin.

The stunt is certain to worsen relations between Moscow and London, which remain deeply strained after Gordon Brown ordered the expulsion of four Russian diplomats in July over Mr Putin’s refusal to cooperate. Russia retaliated by expelling four British envoys.

The Crown Prosecution Service named Mr Lugovoy, a millionaire businessman, in May as the prime suspect in the murder of Mr Litvinenko, a dissident former security service agent and a vocal critic of Mr Putin.

The two men met at a hotel in London on November 1, the day Mr Litvinenko fell ill after ingesting radioactive polonium210.

Mr Lugovoy confirmed his participation in the election, which he said had been forced on him by the case.

“I have been in politics over the past four months against my wishes. I was a businessman, but no longer. Thanks to the disgusting actions towards me by the UK justice system and the resulting political hysteria towards Russia, I find myself at the centre of politics,” he told state-controlled Russia Today television.

Mr Lugovoy, 42, is expected to attend the LDPR’s party congress in Moscow today. He also announced that he was suing Kommersant newspaper in Russia for 20 million roubles (£400,000) over an article describing Mr Litvinenko as his victim.

Mr Lugovoy’s candidacy for the LDPR is a marriage of convenience for both sides. The LDPR suffered the defection of a key financial backer, Alexei Mitrofanov, its No 2 figure, to the rival Just Russia party last month.

The party now holds 35 of the Duma’s 446 seats but the threshold for winning seats in this election has been raised from 5 to 7 per cent. Opinion polls show that the LDPR is only just above the threshold but is likely to rise as election day nears.

The Litvinenko affair has made Mr Lugovoy a famous man in Russia, where he is asked for his autograph in the streets. His candidacy brings the party a welcome burst of publicity and will bolster support for it among nationalist voters.

Mr Zhirinovsky described Britain as Russia’s “most hostile state” in July after the tit-for-tax expulsions. He said that Mr Lugovoy had volunteered to join the LDPR’s candidate list for the elections, which allocate seats on proportional representation.

He dismissed Britain’s case against Mr Lugovoy, saying that the saga was “an attempt to organise provocations against our citizens”.

Mr Litvinenko accused Mr Putin in a deathbed statement of ordering his assassination, an allegation furiously denied by the Kremlin.

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