Alexander Talik
1970-. Ukrainian resident in Italy.
In October 2005, Talik was accused by Alexander Litvinenko of being an FSB agent. Litvinenko and Mario Scaramella also alleged that Talik was involved in a plot to kill Litvinenko's brother Maxim. A month later, Litvinenko revealed the story to the Ukrainian press.
The Italian police began tapping Talik's phone and captured his reaction:
- "Complete bullshit has been written about me," he complains. "Litvinenko has blamed me for organising arms shipments from the Ukraine." More chillingly, he continues, "I've asked for the address of this arsehole in London and I've given a dossier to Vitalich who will take everything to Moscow." Asked by the person on the line who Vitalich was, Talik refuses to explain, insisting only that Vitalich would pass on this contract on Litvinenko's life to three powerful sponsors, all siloviki.[1]
Talik told the Italian courts that this was an idle threat and that Litvinenko and Scaramella had tried to get him to provide information on Semion Mogilevich and Ukrainian criminals in Italy.
Talik's apartment was raided by police five days after Litvinenko's death in London from Polonium poisoning, and he was questioned in Rome. However, their main interest was in Mario Scaramella.
Talik was living in Naples as of January 2008.[2]
References
- ↑ Why a spy was killed, by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy, The Guardian, 26 January 2008.
- ↑ Why a spy was killed, by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy, The Guardian, 26 January 2008.