Marina Litvinenko, widow of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko poisoned in the UK in 2006, said the mini-series about her husband broadcast from Thursday helped to "remember what
happened
" , seeing a "
strong link
" with the invasion of Ukraine.
The four-part series, broadcast from Thursday on the streaming platform of the British channel ITV, tells the work of the London police to establish the truth after the assassination of the former spy.
"It's really good to remember what happened"
Last year, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia "
responsible
".
"
It's really good to remind people of what happened almost 16 years ago
," Litvinenko said in a video released by the Royal Television Society on Tuesday and recorded in late November.
"
And it's appropriate to remember that now, especially when you see the terrible things happening in Ukraine
," she added.
"
I see a strong connection between what happened in 2006 and what is happening now in 2022.
"
Sulphurous revelations from the ex-spy
A former KGB and then FSB agent, Alexandre Litvinenko had been fired from the Russian security services after sulphurous, often unverifiable revelations.
Having obtained asylum in the United Kingdom in 2001, Litvinenko had continued to denounce the corruption and the alleged links of the Russian intelligence services with organized crime.
He died on November 23, 2006 in a London hotel, where significant traces of polonium-210, an extremely toxic radioactive substance, had been found.
As he was dying, he had pointed the finger at the responsibility of Vladimir Putin.
His assassination had seriously chilled relations between London and Moscow.
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In 2018, another poisoning case, which almost cost the life of ex-Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the south of England, again soured relations between the two countries.
In the television series, Russian-born American actress Margarita Levieva plays the role of Marina Litvinenko while Briton David Tennant plays Alexander.
“
When I saw what David had done (with the role), it was incredible
,” said the spy's widow.
According to her, the actors “didn't
just act.
They just didn't do their job.
It really came from the heart
."
The series is "
very very close and precise on what really happened, I think
".