1 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko meets academic blank Mario Scaramella, Italian security expert, at Itsu sushi bar on Piccadilly. According to Litvinenko, the Italian passes him documents on Anna Politkovskaya’s murder.

Mr Litvinenko meets two Russian businessmen Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun at the Millennium Hotel in London.

He later starts to feel unwell, his condition worsens into the night.

4 November 2006

Having suffered three days of sickness Mr Litvinenko is admitted to hospital.

11 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko talks to the press, describing himself as in “very bad shape” after a “serious poisoning”.

17 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko’s condition worsens and he is transferred to University College Hospital under police guard.

19 November 2006

Press reports claim Mr Litvinenko has been poisoned with thallium.

20 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko is moved to intensive care and pictures showing his failing health are released.

Counter terrorist police begin investigating the case as a suspected poisoning while expecting for the results of toxicological tests.

The Kremlin press-secretary says that all allegations

that Russia is involved in poisoning a former FSB officer who harshly criticised president Putin are “sheer nonsense”.

21 November 2006

Doctors are unsure of the poison; some suggest that radioactivity is involved. Toxicologist John Henry says Litvinenko may have been poisoned by radioactive thallium. Earlier John Henry had treated Victor Yushchenko, who in 2004 survived dioxine poisoning and won the Presidential elections in Ukraine. The doctors treating Mr Litvinenko do not agree with Dr Henry.

Professor Scaramella tells the Italian press that he was meeting Mr Litvinenko to discuss email threats they had received.

22 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko’s condition is described as critical.

Doctors rule out thallium as the cause.

The FSB (Russian Security Service) denies its involvement.

Mr Litvinenko suffers a heart attack overnight.

23 November 2006

Mr Litvinenko dies.

The police state they are now investigating “an unexplained death”.

24 November 2006

At 3 am Scotland Yard evacuates Marina Litvinenko and her son Anatoly from their home, informing Marina that her husband was poisoned by radioactive Polonium-210. They say that remaining in the house could endanger their health.

The Health Protection Agency says that the body of Alexander Litvinenko contains Polonium-210 in an amount tenfold more than admissible.

Litvinenko’s friend Alex Goldfarb reads a statement prepared by Mr Litvinenko before his death, in which he accuses Vladmir Putin of his murder. In his death letter Litvinenko calls his murderers “barbarically cruel”, adding that the “Protests of the world community will echo in your ears, Mr Putin, for the rest of your life”.

Litvinenko’s friend Andrey Nekrasov, film director, says that before becoming unconscious Litvinenko said “The bastards got me, but they cannot get everyone”.

At a press conference in Helsinki Putin says: “Litvinenko’s death is, of course, a tragedy, but there is no evidence that it is of a violent nature”.

Doctors conclude Mr Litvinenko died from radiation poisoning, believed to be caused by Polonium-210.

Radioactive traces are found in the sushi bar.

25 November 2006

Police test people who may have been in contact with Mr Litvinenko or the sushi bar for poisoning.

Police search the sushi bar and a bedroom at the Millennium Hotel finding traces of radiation.

26 November 2006

NHS Direct receives hundreds of calls for information on radiation poisoning.

27 November 2006

Home Secretary John Reid tells the Commons that: “The Russian ambassador was called to the Foreign Office on 24 November. He was asked to convey to the Russian authorities our expectation that they should be ready to offer all necessary cooperation to the investigation.”

Polonium-210 is discovered in offices at Grosvenor Street and Down Street.

28 November 2006

It is announced that another eight people have been tested for possible radiation poisoning.

1,121 people have called NHS Direct over the alert and 68 have been assessed as needing follow-up help.

Mario Scaramella has travelled back to the UK for testing.

It is reported that police will also interview Mr Scaramella as a potential witness in the inquiry into the death.

Police are checking a further two addresses - the Sheraton Park Lane hotel and 58 Grosvenor St for traces of polonium-210.

Tony Blair says no "diplomatic or political barrier will stand in the way of the police investigation”.

29 November 2006

Two British Airways Boeing 767s are grounded at Heathrow and a third in Moscow after traces of radioactivity are found. BA begins contacting thousands of passengers who travelled on board.

Mr Scaramella says that he tested negative for radiation poisoning.

160 hospital staff out of 4000 have now been assessed for exposure.

Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells tells the House of Commons that Russian exiles living in Britain "have the right to expect to be able to walk our streets without the fear of being murdered".

30 November 2006

John Reid announces that traces of radioactivity had been discovered in 12 locations, as well as the British Airways planes.

John Reid tells MPs that two Russian aircraft, one of which is currently at Heathrow, are also to be investigated.

The Health Protection Authority says 24 people have been referred for tests.

An inquest into the death of Mr Litvinenko is opened and adjourned.

1 December 2006

Tests show that Mario Scaramella was exposed to a significant amount of Polonium-210, although he has not suffered symptoms of poisoning.

Mr Litvinenko's wife Marina has also tested positive.

3 December 2006

The Sunday Times publishes the article “Putin wanted Blair to gag poisoned spy”.

4 December 2006

British police officers travel to Moscow to investigate Mr Litvinenko's death.

Further tests are carried out in central London.

The Parkes Hotel in Knightsbridge and an office building in Marylebone are inspected.

The HPA performs tests at the Best Western Hotel on Shaftesbury Avenue.

More than 3,000 calls have been made to NHS Direct, 179 have now being investigated further.

27 people have been tested for radiological exposure.

5 December 2006

Mr Chaika, the Russian Prosecutor General, tells the press he will not extradite Russian citizens to Britain even if they are suspects. He says that any trial must take place in Russia.

Russian prosecutors announce their intention to question Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer who met Mr Litvinenko on 1 November.

The British Embassy in Moscow is tested as a precaution following Mr Lugovoi’s visit. Mr Lugovoi is hospitalised.

It is reported that Lugovoi is in Moscow hospital.

6 December 2006

The British Police upgrade the case to a murder investigation.

Tests at the British embassy show radioactive traces though not at dangerous levels.

Mr Scaramella is discharged from hospital having showed no symptoms.

The HPA confirms that all staff from the Itsu sushi bar has been cleared.

7 December 2006

Russian Police announces that they open a parallel investigation. Their case is the attempted murder of Dmitry Kovtun, an acquaintance of Mr Lugovoi and Mr Litvinenko, during their meeting at the Millennium Hotel on 1 November.

The press reports that Mr Kovtun is in a critical condition, there is speculation that he may have been poisoned, but his lawyers deny that he is ill.

Seven bar staff from the Millennium Hotel test positive for low levels of Polonium.

Mr Litvinenko is buried at Highgate Cemetery.

London's Highgate Cemetery. To avoid contamination of the environment Alexander Litvinenko is buried in a sealed coffin.

8 December 2006

Over 200 people who visited the bar at the Millennium Hotel on 1 November are offered tests.

Radiological monitoring of Thames, to which polonium could get from the cup at the Millennium Hotel, is conducted on regular basis.

9 December 2006

German police find traces of radiation in the Hamburg flat of Mr Kovtun’s ex wife and her mother’s home.

Moscow confirms that Russian police may go to London as part of their investigation.

10 December 2006

Marina Litvinenko tells the Mail on Sunday that she believes the Russian Government could be behind her husband’s murder. “Of course, it could not be Putin personally, certainly not,” – says she but adds that President Putin “does such things in Russia that it has become quite possible to kill a British citizen in England”

Metropolitan Police confirms that two officers have tested positive for traces of polonium.

British police are briefed by colleagues in Hamburg.

Mr Kovtun’s ex-wife, partner and two children test positive for radiation.

British and Russian authorities interview Andrei Lugovoi in a Moscow hospital.

16 December 2006

Yuri Shvets, another former soviet spy, claims Mr Litvinenko was murdered to prevent him passing on information about an important Kremlin figure. He claims the poisoning follows the leaking of the document to Moscow.

24 December 2006

Mr Scaramella is arrested in Naples on reportedly unrelated charges of arms tracking and violating state secrets.

27 December 2006

The chief prosecutor in Moscow says he is investigating former Yukos Chairman Leonid Nevzlin who lives in Israel in connection with Mr Litvinenko’s death. He explains that decision by detecting traces of mercury fumes in apartments and cars of former Yukos employees. Mr Nevzlin’s spokesman responds that the suggestion is “ridiculous”.

3 January 2007

A bartender from the Best Western Hotel and a guest at the Millennium Hotel bar test positive for polonium-210.

5 January 2007

The Pescatori in Mayfair tests positive for radioactivity.

11 January 2007

Of the 596 people tested 120 had shown evidence of exposure, 13 of those are believed to be at risk of health implications.

The HPA says 450 people have been identified at risk internationally in 48 countries.

12 January 2007

Russian authorities request permission to question over 100 witnesses in the UK and examine ‘dozens’ of sites.

16 January 2007

British investigators ask permission to visit Moscow one more time to continue their investigation. Russian General Prosecutor Yuri Chauka responds that he does not exclude this once Russian investigators have visited the UK.

22 January 2007

BBC ‘Panorama’ reports that the polonium poisoning may have been only one of many attempts on Mr Litvinenko’s life; the first may have been 2 weeks before the meeting with Mr Scaramella, on 16 October at the same Itsu sushi bar.

The programme reveals that Mr Scaramella was not contaminated.

Marina Litvinenko tells the BBC programme that the murder could not have been carried out without President Putin’s knowledge. Mr Putin’s office denies the allegation and accuses Marina of lying.

26 January 2007

Mr Lugovoi denies involvement in the murder and dismisses suggestions that he could be exiled to the UK.

30 January 2007

Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun again deny involvement.

31 January 2007

The Police investigation is concluded and the file is handed to the Crown Prosecution Service. BBC correspondent Frank Gardner, referring to his police sources, reports that former KGB officer Andrey Lugovoi is certainly suspected. But Lugovoi says he is also a victim of radioactive poisoning. The police cannot comment on the case at this stage and Crown Prosecution Service must decide on the evidence before bringing charges.

4 February 2007

The Government confirms reports that the Russian detectives investigating the case have asked to visit London.

6 February 2007

For the first time Boris Berezovsky announces to Newsnight that before dying Litvinenko told him that he was poisoned by Lugovoi.

8 February 2007

A guest at the Millennium Hotel and a staff member at the Sheraton Park Lane become the 14th and 15th victims of polonium poisoning.

15 February 2007

The Health Protection Agency says another person has tested positive for the radioactive substance which killed the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London.

23 February 2007

Speaking on Ekho Moskvy, Andrei Lugovoi says he has had consultations with UK law firms in order "to establish a correct system of interaction with the British justice" in case he has to go to London at the invitation of Scotland Yard investigators.

Lugovoi added that "in the hysteria that has been seen recently in British media, 99% of 100 will say that we [Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun] were principal offenders. Is it worth meeting people, who were prepared in advance that we were authors of the murder?" Lugovoi asks.

24 February 2007

The British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton says he expects the probe into the poisoning to be completed soon, adding: “Our position is that we want to catch the person who committed this crime and see them punished. We will do everything that we need to do to achieve that result. And if that involves extraditing someone from Russia then we will try to achieve that.”

29 February 2007

Paul Joyal, a Russia expert is shot and seriously wounded outside his house in Washington. He was a friend of Mr Litvinenko and just days earlier had appeared on American tv saying that Putin’s critics were under threat of being killed. His wife challenges reports that the motive for the shooting was robbery, adding that his wallet was not stolen.

7 March 2007

The US embassy in Russia confirms that two American women hospitalized in Moscow are suffering from thallium poisoning symptoms. Neither of the women are thought to have business or political ties in Russia.

14 March 2007

Dimitry Kovtun’s lawyer says that Mr Kovtun will visit Germany to give statements to investigators in Hamburg.

15 March 2007

Dmitri Kovtun’s former wife tells Russian newspaper Izvestia that her ex-husband is still undergoing outpatient treatment.

18 March 2007

British businessman Steve Atkins tells a British Sunday newspaper that he has tested positive for POlonium-210 as a result of drinking coffee at the Millenium Hotel, with suggestions that he might have drank from the same cup as Mr Litvinenko. He describes a “nagging fear” that he might develop cancer in the future.