Litvinenko film maker's Finland home burgled

HELSINKI, May 27 (Reuters) A break-in at the Finnish holiday home of Russian movie director Andrei Nekrasov -- whose documentary on murdered Russian exile Alexander Litvinenko was shown at Cannes film festival -- is suspicious. Or maybe not.

For Nekrasov, a friend of the former KGB agent, it is odd that the burglar caused some damage but stole nothing. For the local police, it was just another break-in.

Nekrasov has said he fears for his safety after making the two-hour film, which includes interviews with both Litvinenko and the man British police suspect of his murder and is critical of President Vladimir Putin. The suspect says he is innocent.

There is no proof that the break-in last month was linked to the documentary, but while windows were broken, books and letters ripped and negatives destroyed, nothing was stolen, Nekrasov told Sunday's edition of the daily Helsingin Sanomat.

''There is no proof (of any connection). No,'' said Nekrasov, who uses the house in Luumaki, 180 km northeast of Helsinki, to store his research material.

The Lappeenranta police see the case as an ordinary crime.

''We are investigating a theft and damage at Nekrasov's property some time in April,'' inspector Leevi Hakulinen told Reuters.

Burglaries happen all year round in the Luumaki area, where there are many holiday homes, he added.

REUTERS SG RK1828