AS IT IS 2016-03-30 Widow of Russian Spy Fights for Justice

AS IT IS 2016-03-30 Widow of Russian Spy Fights for Justice

The widow of a murdered Russian spy continues to try to bring her husband’s killers¹ to justice.

Marina Litvinenko is the widow of Alexander Litvinenko. She spoke² at the VOA offices this month.

Ms. Litvinenko displayed a thick document showing that a British court said the death of her husband was murder. The court said the murder was probably ordered by Russia’s top leaders.

Alexander Litvinenko was an intelligence agent of the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was granted asylum³ in Britain in 2000. He became a well-known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was said to have started working with British intelligence officials, providing details of Russia’s organized crime networks and of President Putin himself.

On November 1, 2006, Litvinenko had tea at a London hotel with two men from the FSB, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun. Litvinenko’s cup of tea contained Polonium 210, a radioactive element that can only be made in a nuclear reactor⁴. Litvinenko died 23 days later.

Shortly before he died, Litvinenko accused President Putin of killing⁵ him.  

In the nearly 10 years since his death, his widow, Marina, has worked to prove that the Kremlin killed her husband. She said she considers the recent ruling by the British court a step in uncovering the mysterious deaths of other Russian dissidents.

“But this one now is a proof. We have this in a verdict about Russian State involvement ...”  

The British court’s verdict came in January. Investigator⁶ Robert Owen led the British Court of Inquiry⁷. The court issued a report that connected Lugovoy, Kovtun and, by extension, Vladimir Putin with Litinenko's assassination⁸.

Robert Owen concluded that all the evidence suggests Livinenko’s murder was an FSB operation. The operation was approved at the highest level of the Kremlin.

“I have further concluded that the FSB operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr. Patrushev, then head of the FSB, and also by President Putin.”

Marina Litvinenko said she is pleased with the verdict. But she is not giving up her effort to bring her husband’s killers to justice. She came to Washington this month to meet with government officials, foreign policy experts and journalists.

During her visit to VOA, she said she was outraged⁹ that those who killed her husband for political reasons have escaped punishment. Instead, they have been protected and rewarded, she said.

“These people committed a very serious crime. And Lugovoy was not even punished for this crime. He was granted. He is a member of Russian parliament. He became a politician straight after.”

Russian officials have strongly denied any state involvement in the assassination. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Alexander Yakovenko, read a statement to reporters, rejecting the charges.

“We view it as an attempt to put additional pressure on Russia in connection with existing differences over a number of international issues. For us, it’s absolutely unacceptable that the report concludes that the Russian state was in any way involved in the death of Mr. Litvinenko on the British soil.” 

Marina Litvinenko said she doubts that those named by the British Court of Inquiry will be prosecuted¹⁰ for her husband’s death anytime soon.

But she promised to continue her protest. She said she hopes her efforts highlight what she says is the continuing operation of Kremlin-sponsored killing groups in foreign cities.

She discussed at VOA the mysterious death of Litvinenko’s mentor¹¹, Boris Berezovsky, who was found hanged in his bathroom in 2014. He strongly opposed Putin. She also mentioned the death of financier Mikhail Lesin, who was beaten to death last November while in Washington.

“Of course, when very high profile people as Lesin and Boris Berezovsky died, it is difficult to believe it was just natural causes...”

Litvinenko also said she believes the work done by Owen and the British court on her husband’s death will help in the investigation¹² of the deaths of Berezovsky, Lesin and other Russian dissidents abroad.

Words in This Story 

widow - n. a woman whose husband has died

display - v. to put (something) where people can see it

Kremlin - n. the government of Russia and the former Soviet¹³ Union

verdict - n. the decision made by a jury in a trial

outraged - v. to be extremely angry

highlight - v. to make or try to make people notice or be aware of (someone or something)?

sponsor - v. to provide money or support for a project or activity

1 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

9 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

10 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

11 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。