Andrei Lugovoi, playboy at heart of Russia row

London Daily Telegraph ^ | july 20th, 2007 | DancesWithCats

[DancesWithCats]

Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB officer who is subject to a extradition request from the UK, strolled into his Moscow office flashing his broadest grin.As always, he was nattily dressed - this time in an open-necked Thomas Pink shirt. Extending a cuff-linked arm in greeting, he offered his guests a cup of tea and settled languorously into his leather swivel chair.

For a man at the heart of the worst diplomatic crisis between Russia and Britain since the end of the Cold War, Mr Lugovoi seems to be insouciance personified.

It was not always so. When The Daily Telegraph first met him last November, a few days after details of Alexander Litvinenko's poisoning in London first emerged, he appeared jittery, uncertain and preoccupied by a fear that Britain might withdraw his visa.

Nine months later, Britain has done much more than that, demanding his extradition in connection to Mr Litvinenko's murder and expelling four Russian diplomats this week following Moscow's refusal. The Kremlin responded by ejecting four British diplomats on Thursday.

Lugovoi with a friend in Moscow.

[DancesWithCats]

Having heard the fellas name bandied about so frequently, it's interesting to have a more personal (well, as much as it can be from a news source!) viewpoint. He certainly seems very arrogant for someone who is in a potentially life-ending position if the Brits get their hands on him in the courts!

[RusIvan]

He certainly seems very arrogant for someone who is in a potentially life-ending position if the Brits get their hands on him in the courts!==

Brits want him in thier OWN court. Russia offered Britain to try him in Moscow. Britain refused.

[DancesWithCats]