The widow of Alexander Litvinenko has repeated his final defiant words to Vladimir Putin 15 years on from his murder.

Marina Litvinenko said that the former Russian intelligence officer’s deathbed message that his silence ‘comes at a price’ will eventually return to haunt the country’s Prime Minister.

She also described her husband as a ‘brave’ man who she believed would win his agonising fight for life in the days after he was poisoned with radioactive polonium 210.

Ms Litvinenko, 59, is due to gather with a small group of friends and family at his graveside in Highgate, north London, tomorrow to remember the ex-spy, who died in hospital on November 23, 2006.

She has spent the past 15 years keeping her husband, who she calls Sasha, and his struggle against corruption in Russia in the public eye.

A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the hit was carried out by Russian agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, probably on Mr Putin’s orders.

In September 2021, the European Court of Human Rights also ruled that there was ‘a strong prima facie case’ that the former Federal Security Service officer died at the hands of the former soldiers.

The latest finding was given after the case was brought by Ms Litvinenko, who has pursued her fight for justice through the courts.

‘Sasha was brave and responsible in what he did,’ she said.

‘His last words in hospital were directed at Mr Putin when he said, “you may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price”.

‘There are now two courts agreeing on what happened and every time you hear news from Russia it’s all linked to what Sasha tried to prevent.

‘Although he found it difficult as one person to do this, he tried to explain what the system was like from within.

‘I’m sure he would be very disappointed at the situation in Russia today because he loved Russia and he wanted it to be the best place to live.

‘He is not alone, there are a lot of other people like him and we should not give up hope that Russia will one day be a better place.

‘You should separate Russian people, government and state.

‘One day, when Putin’s dictatorship fails and he is no longer Prime Minister, there will be a lot of charges against him and Alexander Litvinenko’s case will be a big part of this.’

Mr Litvinenko, 43, died in University College Hospital three weeks after the isotope polonium-210 was slipped into his tea at a London hotel.

Lugovoy has since been ‘lionised in Russia and awarded an honour by Mr Putin, according to the public inquiry’s findings.

Moscow has refused extradition requests for the pair to face criminal charges in the UK.

In the cultural arena, David Tennant will play Mr Litvinenko in a forthcoming ITV drama, the latest adaption of the affair which has also been recreated on stage by Grange Park Opera in Surrey this year and for a 2019 production at the Old Vic.

Ms Litvinenko told Metro.co.uk that the stage and screen realisations are helping to ensure that her husband does not disappear out of focus, especially to younger generations.

Preparing to mark the anniversary, she said: ‘I feel a mixture of emotions.

‘There are have been some great results in the fight for justice over the past 15 years but it’s a question of how the government uses these results.

‘For me, what is important is that Sasha’s memory is kept alive.

‘There has been a play at the Old Vic, documentaries and TV productions.

‘It means more and more people will remember him and what happened to us, especially among young people and those who might not know about the case.’

The outspoken Kremlin critic had been at the upmarket Millenium Hotel in Mayfair when the substance, which could only have come from a nuclear reactor, was slipped into his drink.

Two days before his death, Mr Litvinenko, who also previously worked for the KGB, was able to dictate a deathbed statement, including the message to the Russian Prime Minister.

Recalling the end of his life, his wife said: ‘It was the twenty-second day of Sasha’s illness.

‘He didn’t die in one day, he spent a long period of time fighting for his life.

‘The polonium was only discovered after his death and we all saw how hard he fought to stay alive.

‘The last day was the most difficult because he was unconscious.

‘Unfortunately, his heart, which was the strongest part of his body, failed in the end.’

In the European court ruling, Moscow was ordered to pay Ms Litvenenko £85,600 in damages and £19,300 in costs and expenses.

Russia has always denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s death.

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