When Mario Scaramella met Alexander Litvinenko at the Itsu sushi bar in London to warn him of an apparent threat to both their lives, the former Russian spy dismissed the document -- which purported to detail the plot against the two men, as well as three others -- as being "like the plot of a film."
One of the documents mentioned a Russian judo master who was slightly lame in his right leg, but speaks good Portuguese and arranges "special operations."
It seemed far-fetched, and Litvinenko certainly did not believe it.
In an interview last week, Scaramella, an Italian academic and espionage expert, said: "Alex laughed it off.
He didn't have faith in the person who sent the message and said the whole thing was incredible. He said it was not realistic at all."
Since that meeting in Itsu, Litvinenko has died from an overdose of polonium-210.
On Friday, Scaramella tested positive for the radioactive substance.
The documents, e-mail warnings, were believed to have come from the son of an officer in the FSB -- Russia's state security organization -- and were brought to London by Scaramella, who was worried about the details in them.
The e-mails claimed Russian intelligence officers "speak more and more about the necessity to use force" against a number of named enemies.
In addition to Litvinenko and Scaramella, one of the documents said Russian intelligence was targeting Paolo Guzzanti, an Italian senator and chairman of the Mitrokhin commission, which investigates KGB infiltration of Italy. Scaramella is a consultant to that inquiry.
The document said that Russian security services believed that the two Italians were in collusion with "enemy no.1 of Russia," the London-based businessman Boris Berezovsky, and two of his associates -- Litvinenko and Vladimir Bukovsky, a Russian dissident living in exile in Britain.
Italy's Mitrokhin investigations, it said, "are considered in Moscow as purely provocative towards Russia."
Valentin Velichko, ex-KGB general and head of a security service veterans' group, Dignity and Honour, was also named in the documents as involved in the "planning of actions" against Guzzanti and Scaramella.
There was no evidence connecting him to the poisoning of Litvinenko or Scaramella.
The second e-mail identified an alleged assassin, an officer in Russia's Spetsnaz special forces.
He was described as having black hair and a lean build. The email said he "speaks well English and Portugal, is master in judo" and was on a reconnaissance mission to Naples.
Despite his reservations, Litvinenko promised to check the information and to get back to him.
Scaramella had regular meetings with Litvinenko to discuss matters relating to the Russian security services.
"Alex had a huge breadth of knowledge of both the KGB and the FSB. He had incredible archives and contacts," Scaramella said.
On one occasion, Litvinenko gave him information about an arms smuggling plot in which six men from Kiev were attempting to smuggle grenades and a detonation system in hollowed-out Bibles into Italy.
The men were arrested and are currently going through the Italian judiciary system. It has been alleged that the weapons were intended to kill Guzzanti.
Velichko left Moscow on Friday of last week for an unknown destination but in an interview while Litvinenko was hospitalized he rubbished the idea of security service involvement with the alleged poisoning, saying the former FSB officer "probably ate some bad sushi."
Dignity and Honour, which has up to 3,000 members, is based in an apartment block on the outskirts of Moscow
It owns more than two dozen companies that provide everything from bodyguards to banking services. It is known to have strong links with the Kremlin.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS