A lawyer for the suspect who was being questioned for the murder of an ex-Russian spy said that reports his client fell into a coma from the effects of radiation poisoning were false.

The Russian news agency Interfax earlier reported that Dmitry Kovtun, one of the men who made contact with the ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko before he died from radiation poisoning, was himself in critical condition with radiation poisoning.

The coffin of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is carried during his funeral at Highgate cemetery in north London on Thursday.
(Cathal McNaughton/Associated Press)

But lawyer Andrei Romashov said the reports were wrong and that Kovtun's health was satisfactory. "I just 15 minutes ago spoke to his [Kovtun's] representative, who had spoken directly to him, and he denied that information," he told Reuters.

"His health right at this minute is no different from the state of his health when he was questioned by Russian and British investigators [on Thursday]," Romashov said.

The Prosecutor General's Office says Russian police are investigating the attempted murder by "radioactive nuclide" of Kovtun, who lives in Moscow.

The Russian businessman met with Litvinenko, 43, in London's Millennium Hotel on Nov. 1, just hours before Litvinenko became ill.

The disputed reports about Kovtun's declining health came just hours after Britain's Health Protection Agency confirmed that trace amounts of polonium-210 were found in seven bar staff at the London hotel where Litvinenko drank and dined moments before falling ill.

"Preliminary results received from seven members of staff working in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel on Nov. 1 show that they appear to have been exposed to low levels of polonium-210," the health agency said in a statement Thursday.

"There is no health risk in the short term and in the long term the risk is judged to be very small on the basis of initial tests," it said.

Russia has opened its own criminal investigation into the Litvinenko affair — a move that would allow suspects to be tried in Russia.

Detectives from Scotland Yard have been questioning suspects in Moscow under the supervision of Russian authorities, but officials have made it clear that no one will be extradited to Britain to stand trial.

The Prosecutor General's Office in Moscow said Thursday the Russian murder investigation would allow anyone accused in what is now being considered a murder to be prosecuted in Russia.

A private funeral in London on Thursday was attended by about 30 of Litvinenko's family and friends. His remains were sealed in an airtight coffin to protect against radiation leaks.

Kovtun and Lugovoi suspected a frame-up

Another former KGB agent, Andrei Lugovoi, told the Russian media he and Kovtun met Litvinenko in London to discuss a business opportunity. They later attended a soccer game between CSKA Moscow and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in north London.

Traces of polonium-210 have been detected at the stadium, though experts say radiation levels were too low to pose a risk to the public. Lugovoi is currently in hospital being monitored for radiation contamination.

Kovtun and Lugovoi have told Russian reporters they suspect someone is trying to frame them for Litvinenko's death.

A close friend of Litvinenko's, Alex Goldfarb, said last week that the former spy voiced suspicions about Lugovoi from his deathbed.

Goldfarb said he told British police Litvinenko did not want to publicize details of his encounters with Lugovoi because he hoped he would be able to recover and lure his alleged assailant back to London.

Litvinenko had been fiercely critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin's government and had been investigating the murder of an outspoken anti-Kremlin reporter when he was poisoned. He accused Putin of orchestrating his murder.

With files from the Associated Press