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A Russian dissident who met the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in a cafe two days before he was poisoned in London has been granted political asylum by Britain. Andrei Sidelnikov, 32, fled to the UK in December. The Russian secret service had prevented him from flying out of Moscow, but he eventually reached Gatwick after slipping out of Russia via Belarus and Ukraine. Alexander Litvinenko in hospital. Photograph: Getty Sidelnikov is the leader of a small Russian opposition movement, Pora. He is the latest high-profile opponent of the Kremlin to receive asylum in Britain, and had told officials his life would be in danger if he remained in Russia. "I'm feeling very good. This means that the British government understands that there are no freedoms and rights in Russia," Sidelnikov told the Guardian today. "I'm very... [read full story]
