PUTIN’S OPEN AND NOTORIOUS ROLE IN THE MURDER. Despite Vladimir Putin’s denials of any role in the killing of Litvenenko, his actions send a message that: yes, I was responsible for the murder and I dare you to do anything about it.
1. The polonium in the vial would have cost tens of millions of dollars, as reported in this article in the Telegraph.
2. As the official report, quoted in this article in the Guardian, says: “Putin’s favourable treatment of Lugovoi [one of the two killers] in the years since the murder shows ‘that the Russian state approves of Mr Litvinenko’s killing, or at least that it wishes to signal approval for it’â€.
3. Putin has absolute power over any decision of this nature and importance.