Intelligence Squared: Marina Litvinenko on Russia, Putin and Resistance

Twenty years ago, the assassination in London of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko changed the world. This, the West now knew, was how far Vladimir Putin would go to hunt down his enemies.

Poisoned with polonium after drinking a cup of tea in a London hotel, the former Russian security agent’s death transformed relations between Britain and Russia and marked an end to the hopes that the Russian president could be some sort of ally for Western powers.

At the centre of that story is Marina Litvinenko, the murdered man’s wife, who has spent the two decades since fighting for justice and keeping Litvinenko’s memory alive. A dancer who grew up opposite the Kremlin, Marina met Alexander, known to her as Sasha, on her 31st birthday. As he began exposing corruption in post-communist Russia, the couple sought political asylum in the UK and built a new life in London, where Alexander would ultimately become a target of the Russian state.

How did Marina and Alexander become caught up in a confrontation with Putin’s Russia? What does his murder reveal about the methods of the regime? And two decades later, what can their story tell us about the consequences faced by those who challenge it as Putin faces increasingly dire economic and military conditions thanks to his war against Ukraine?

Join Marina Litvinenko on November 9 at Conway Hall as she reflects on her life with Alexander, the events that led to his murder and the extraordinary fight for justice that followed.