MOSCOW, December 22 (RIA Novosti) - No traces of radiation have been found on 17 out of 20 planes of Russia's leading air carrier Aeroflot, which flew the Moscow-Hamburg route since late November, the country's chief health official said Friday.
Gennady Onishchenko said the three remaining planes, which are being tested as part of an investigation into the murder of a Russian security service defector in London, will be checked by the end of December.
Police in Germany earlier found traces of polonium-210, the toxic radioactive isotope used to poison Alexander Litvinenko, in several locations in Hamburg visited by Dmitry Kovtun, a key witness in the murder case.
Police in Germany earlier said traces of radiation might be found on Aeroflot's planes, as Kovtun traveled to Germany on that airline.
A harsh Kremlin critic, Litvinenko died November 23 in a London hospital after four days in a critical condition.
Kovtun and another witness, Andrei Lugovoi, met with Litvinenko in a London hotel shortly before he was hospitalized with symptoms of poisoning, and have themselves undergone radiation checks. Both have denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death.
