Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy who died in a London hospital yesterday, accused the Kremlin of killing him in a statement dictated shortly before he lost consciousness.

Litvinenko alleged he was poisoned with a radioactive substance because of his criticism of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking later in Helsinki, Putin said speculation his government was involved ``has nothing to do with reality.'' He offered his condolences to Litvinenko's family.

British government officials met with the Russian Ambassador in London to discuss Litvinenko's death. They requested that the authorities in Moscow provide ``any information they might have that would assist the police,'' the U.K.'s Foreign Office said in an e-mailed statement.

``You succeeded in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life,'' Litvinenko said in his statement. It was dictated on Nov. 21 and read publicly today by Litvinenko's friend, Alex Goldfarb, outside University College Hospital, where the former spy died.

A ``significant quantity'' of the radioactive isotope Polonium-210 was detected in Litvinenko's urine, the U.K.'s Health Protection Agency said today in an e-mailed statement. He received a ``major dose'' of the substance, the organization's chief executive Pat Troop told a press conference in London.

Sushi

Traces of Polonium-210 were found at a sushi restaurant called Itsu, in London's Piccadilly, which Litvinenko visited on the day he became ill, Scotland Yard said in an e-mailed statement. Traces of the radioactive isotope were also found at the Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square, which Litvinenko visited on the same day, and at his home in Muswell Hill, north London, Scotland Yard said.

The Health Protection Agency is assessing the risk to those who came into close contact with him at those locations.

Polonium-210 occurs naturally in very small concentrations in food and people and has industrial uses including as a heat source in satellites and early Russian lunar rovers. It can be bought on the internet, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Counter-Terrorism Officer

Police are looking for any residual radioactive material at several locations, Home Secretary John Reid said in an e-mailed statement. Reid chaired a meeting of the Government's emergencies committee, known as Cobra, today, a Home Office spokeswoman said.

The police are treating Litvinenko's death as ``unexplained'' and haven't yet begun a murder investigation. ``Inquiries continue into the circumstances surrounding how Mr. Litvinenko became unwell,'' Scotland Yard said. The U.K.'s top counter-terrorism officer, Peter Clarke, is leading the investigation.

``May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people,'' Litvinenko said in his statement, referring to Putin.

The person responsible for his death was ``barbaric and ruthless,'' had no respect for civilized values, and was unworthy of office, Litvinenko said.

`Not Lazarus'

``There are no grounds for speculation of this kind,'' Putin said at a news conference today in Helsinki, where he is meeting European Union representatives. Putin, speaking through a translator, said he hadn't seen evidence that it was a ``violent death.''

He also questioned why Litvinenko's statement hadn't been published before his death.

``Mr. Litvinenko is not Lazarus. Unfortunately, tragic events are used for political provocations,'' Putin said. Russian authorities would offer any help needed for the British investigation, he said. ``I hope the British authorities will not contribute to the instigation of political scandals,'' Putin added.

The Russian regime is ``a mortal danger to the world,'' the former spy's father, Walter Litvinenko, said outside the hospital. ``My son fought this regime, he questioned it and this regime got him,'' he said. His son was ``killed by a tiny, little nuclear bomb,'' he said.

The Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, have denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death.

`Shocked and Horrified'

``Death is always a tragedy,'' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said by telephone today. ``Now it's time for the relevant authorities in Britain, where Mr. Litvinenko lived, to investigate the case.''

Litvinenko himself was in no doubt that he was poisoned by Russian enemies. ``The bastards got me but they won't get everybody,'' he said shortly before he stopped being able to communicate on Nov. 21, his friend Andrei Nekrasov told the London-based Times. Before he died the ex-spy looked ``like a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps,'' Nekrasov said.

Photographs of Litvinenko released Nov. 20 showed him lying in a hospital bed looking frail. His hair had fallen out.

Litvinenko's family are ``all shocked and horrified at this terrible crime,'' Goldfarb said outside the hospital. Litvinenko had a son with his wife, Marina.

The former lieutenant colonel in Russia's FSB, or Federal Security Service, the successor to the KGB, applied for asylum in the U.K. six years ago and became an outspoken critic of the Kremlin over issues including the conflict in Chechnya.

Politkovskaya Killing

Litvinenko had been investigating the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, 48, another prominent critic of Putin and Russian policy in Chechnya. Politkovskaya was shot at her Moscow apartment building Oct. 7.

Litvinenko first reported feeling ill on Nov. 1 after meeting with a friend at the Itsu restaurant in London's Piccadilly.

Mario Scaramella, an Italian, said at a Nov. 21 news conference in Rome that he was the friend. Scaramella said he and Litvinenko had both received e-mailed threats days before the poisoning.

Shortly before the restaurant meeting Litvinenko met two Russian men, including a former KGB officer whom he knew, for tea at a hotel in central London, Goldfarb said.

Litvinenko's death has echoes of Cold War assassinations such as that of Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident who died after being spiked with a poison-tipped umbrella on a London street in 1978.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nick Allen in London at nallen14@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 24, 2006 15:09 EST