claim: murder suspect dmitri kovtun says that alexander litvinenko killed himself by mistake  one of the men accused of killing alexander litvinenko claimed today that the russian spy's death may have been an 'accidental suicide' after he inadvertently handled polonium dmitri kovtun, who is wanted for the dissident's murder, insisted that he was not involved in mr litvinenko's death and suggested that he had poisoned himself without knowing it the suspect, a former kgb agent, has agreed to give evidence at the inquiry into litvinenko's death as long as he is given the right to examine secret evidence put forward by the police if kovtun testifies, he will have to do so by video link, because he will be arrested on suspicion of murder if he tries to travel to britain mr litvinenko met with kovtun and alexander lugovoi, another former spy, in london shortly before he fell ill with radiation poisoning in november 2006 and died at the age of 43 at a press conference in russia today, kovtun asserted his innocence and blamed mr litvinenko for his own death   saying he was carrying around polonium rather than being given it by kovtun and lugovoi, as has been previously claimed he described the death as an 'accidental suicide', adding: 'i am more than sure that he was dealing with polonium without knowing it 'maybe there was some kind of polonium leak and it was gradually accumulating in his body 'i don't know if he had it with him or if somebody gave him something that he carried with him where he got the polonium from, that is the question' scroll down for video  killed: litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in november 2006 after meeting kovtun and alexander lugovoi  denial: kovtun told a press conference today that he had no involvement in litvinenko's death  the inquiry has previously heard that mr litvinenko ingested polonium 210 when he drank a cup of tea during a meeting with the two ex kgb men at the millennium hotel in central london but kovtun said this was impossible, adding: 'litvinenko told me that he would not eat anything because the night before he got terrible poisoning, was throwing up all night, and called an ambulance 'that proves our total innocence, that he had already come into contact with polonium, perhaps several days before our meeting' he insisted that the reason he and lugovoi left a trail of polonium around london during their visit to the city was because they had been contaminated by their meeting with mr litvinenko polonium is exceptionally rare, and experts have previously said that the amount ingested by the victim could only have been produced in a government run facility suspects: kovtun, left, and lugovoi, right, have previously refused to co operate with the public inquiry into litvinenko's death  meeting: litvinenko fell ill after going to see kovtun and lugovoi at the millennium hotel in london, pictured  the two suspects had refused to co operate with the public inquiry currently under way into mr litvinenko's death, saying that it would be biased against them but last month, kovtun dramatically changed his mind, and said that he would give evidence only if he is given 'core participant' status at today's press conference, he told reporters: 'if i don't get this status, i will not participate' chairman sir robert owen has issued kovtun with a list of conditions which he must fulfil in order to be given the status, including issuing a full witness statement and disclosing all relevant documents however, even if he is allowed to become a core participant he will not be given access to restricted material family: litvinenko's son anatoly and wife marina outside the inquiry at the royal courts of justice  the inquiry has set aside three days in late july for kovtun to give evidence over video link mr litvinenko accused russian president vladimir putin of being responsible for his killing in a statement issued from his deathbed the spy fled russia and sought refuge in britain in 2000, after he spoke against putin, who he claimed had ordered him to kill tycoon boris berezovsky the inquiry was shown video footage of russian special forces using a photograph of mr litvinenko as target practice, as well as a picture of him looking gaunt and weak hours before he died
litvinenko alexander litvinenko kovtun dmitri kovtun
dmitri kovtun claims alexander litvinenko was carrying around polonium without knowing it  says the ex spy's death was 'accidental suicide' during press conference  kovtun denies murdering litvinenko, but has agreed to give evidence at the public inquiry into his death 