[JURIST] British authorities submitted a formal extradition request to Russia on Monday, seeking Andrei Lugovoy in the poisoning-murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko [BBC profile; BBC timeline]. Last week, UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith rejected a Russian offer to try Lugovoy in Russia, calling for his extradition [JURIST report] to the United Kingdom. The Russian government has thus far refused to turn Lugovoy over to the UK, saying that the Russian constitution forbids it [MFA statement].

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CRS) [official website] found sufficient evidence to charge [press release; JURIST report] Lugovoy with murder last week. Litvinenko and Lugovoy, both former employees of the Russian state security agency, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) [official website, in Russian], met on November 1, 2006, hours before Litvinenko fell ill of radioactive poisoning from polonium-210 [CDC backgrounder]. Litvinenko died on November 26. AP has more.