Andrei Lugovoi , a former KGB spy accused of murdering the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko made a surprise public announcement in which he stated his wish to candidate for the Kremlin-supporting ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic party.

This new path he has chosen in a political career has already begun to take shape, as the party confirmed it had placed him second on its party list, a move that virtually guarantees him a seat as an MP.

The Russian election for parliament begins in December.

As future member of the Russians Duma, lower house, Lugovoi will be given diplomatic immunity along with prosecution invulnerability. This makes no change in the United Kingdom’s request to extradite Lugovoi, as the Kremlin had no intention of doing so in the first place.

Britain is now faced with the possibility of Lugovoi presenting himself in parliament as a heroic and patriotic Russian battling the mischievous British spies. Britain is convinced that his entering parliament could not have been accomplished without help from the Kremlin.

On Sunday, the Liberal Democratic party's leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, cleaned Lugovoi’s slate of crimes and described Britain’s charges against him as "an attempt to organize provocations against our citizens."

Lugovoi is suspected of persuading Litvinenko to sip a cup of poisoned tea at a London hotel. Litvinenko ingested a large dose of radioactive polonium-210 and died three weeks later. In a deathbed statement, he accused Vladimir Putin of organizing his murder, a murder with which the Kremlin denies of having anything to do with.