The condition of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Soviet spy and Kremlin critic, has deteriorated during the night. A spokesman for University College hospital, London, where he is being treated said on Thursday: "He is in a very serious condition in the intensive care unit.
Russia's spy service said on Tuesday that it had no hand in the alleged poisoning of Litvinenko.
Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Federal Security Service (FSB) and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, fell ill after meeting a contact in a London sushi restaurant
Toxicology reports now say that he was poisoned by thallium, which can cause a slow, painful death over the course of weeks or months, even with treatment. Thallium attacks the nervous system, lungs, heart, liver and kidneys.
The colourless, odourless toxin results in hair loss, vomiting and diarrhoea. One gram can be enough to kill.
Sergei Ivanov, a spokesman for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, told Reuters: "We continue to deny our involvement in the incident which happened to the former employee of the FSB Alexander Litvinenko."
The SVR is the main successor to the KGB's first department, which organised Soviet intelligence operations overseas.
Britain has put its anti-terrorist police on the case, which could have diplomatic repercussions if high-level Russian involvement is shown. The Kremlin on Monday dismissed such talk as "pure nonsense".
"There is absolutely no interest for us in occupying ourselves with such activities. Of course everyone has worth, but this person is not worth enough ... to poison the atmosphere of warm relations between Moscow and London," Ivanov said.
Agencies
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