Litvinenko evidence demanded from Britain

MOSCOW, July 25 (UPI) -- Russian legal officials have demanded that their British counterparts stop withholding evidence regarding the death of security agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Russian Prosecutor General Andrei Mayorov said that his office hasn't received any evidence from Britain regarding the alleged assassination of the outspoken former Russian agent, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

"We have not received a single document in the Litvinenko case. Technically, we do not even know what he died of, as unfortunately, we have received all our information about the Polonium-210 poisoning from so-called open sources," Mayorov said.

The alleged lack of evidence sharing comes as the two nations continue to differ regarding Britain's request that Russia extradite Russian businessman Andrei Lugovoi.

Lugovoi is Britain's top suspect in Litvinenko's death but Russia has refused to turn him over to British authorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia's decision is in part based on a lack of reciprocation by Britain in similar extradition proceedings, Itar-Tass reported.

"At the same time, 30 people wanted by Russian law enforcement agencies on suspicion of serious and very serious crimes are hiding in London," Putin said. "They never planned to extradite those people."