Andrei Lugovoi, a State Duma deputy wanted by British authorities in the 2006 killing of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, took a lie detector test Tuesday, the results of which said he was telling the truth when he claimed he was not involved in Litvinenko's death.
The test was administered by British firm U.K. Lie Tests and lasted three hours, Interfax reported Wednesday. As is standard procedure in polygraph tests, the questions regarding Lugovoi's involvement in Litvinenko's death were scattered among neutral questions on other topics.
The report said Lugovoi was not lying when he said he did not do anything that led to the death of Litvinenko, was not in any way involved in his death and never had anything to do with polonium.
"After careful analysis of all the diagrams received as a result of the test, it has been determined that the answers given to these questions were not lies," the report said, Interfax reported.
Litvinenko, a former KGB officer who became a vehement critic of Vladimir Putin, died in London from polonium poisoning in November 2006. Lugovoi, also a former KGB member, had met with Litvinenko in a cafe shortly before he fell ill, and Lugovoi was named a suspect in Litvinenko's murder by British police.
Russia has refused British requests to extradite Lugovoi. He currently serves as a Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party.
On Wednesday, he told Interfax that he hopes the polygraph test results will help prove his innocence to British authorities.
"I have on multiple occasions called on the British side to conduct a polygraph test. I received this opportunity and took advantage of it, to prove my innocence once again in Litvinenko's death," Lugovoi said.
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