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Sergei Skripal

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Sergei Skripal
Сергей Викторович Скрипаль
Born
Sergei Viktorovich Skripal

(1951-06-23) 23 June 1951 (age 73)
Kaliningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union[1]
Spouse(s)Lyudmila Skripal (c. 1952/1953–2012), née Koshelnik[2]
Children
  • Alexandr Skripal (1974–2017);[3]
  • Yulia Skripal (c. 1985–)[2]

Sergei Viktorovich Skripal (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипаль, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ skrʲɪˈpalʲ], born 23 June 1951) is a Russian former military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent for the UK's intelligence services during the 1990s and early 2000s.[4] In December 2004, he was arrested by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and later tried, convicted of high treason, and imprisoned. He settled in the UK in 2010 following the Illegals Program spy swap.

On 4 March 2018, Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, were poisoned with a nerve agent.[5] As of 9 March 2018,[6] they remain in a critical condition at Salisbury District Hospital.[7][8] The poisoning is being investigated as an attempted murder.[5]

Biography

Career

Sergei Skripal was born in Kaliningrad Oblast[1] on 23 June 1951.[9] In 1972, Skripal completed the military engineering school in Kaliningrad with qualification of a sapper-paratrooper.[10] He then studied at the Moscow Military Engineering Academy, and then served in the Soviet Airborne Troops.

Skripal was co-opted to the military intelligence (GRU) from the Airborne Troops.[10] In the early 1990s, he was posted as a GRU officer at the embassy in Malta.[9] In 1994, he landed a position in the military attaché′s office in Madrid, Spain.[9][10] According the FSB and other sources, in 1995, in Spain, he was recruited to the British intelligence by British intelligence agent Pablo Miller, who then posed as Antonio Alvarez de Hidalgo.[11][12] According to intelligence sources cited by The Times in March 2018, Skripal was first spotted for potential development as an asset by the Spanish intelligence but was approached by the British recruiter around July 1995 and was given the codename 'Forthwith'.[13] According to the FSB, Pablo Miller was also involved in efforts to recruit other Russian assets and was in contact with Alexander Litvinenko.[14]

In 1996, due to his poor health (diabetes),[9] Skripal was sent back to Moscow, where he went on to work in the GRU headquarters and for a while was acting director of the GRU personnel department.[10] Skripal held the rank of colonel when he retired, due to his inadequate health condition, in 1999.[9] He continued to make trips to Spain, where he had a house near Málaga at his disposal, provided by his handlers.[13]

According to Russian prosecutors, he began working for the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in 1995 and passed on state secrets, such as the identities of Russian intelligence agents. After his retirement, he worked in the Household Department of the Russian foreign ministry, while continuing to work for MI6.[15][16][17] He was alleged to have blown the cover of 300 Russian agents.[18]

From 2001, Skripal worked in the Ministry of Municipalities of the Government of Moscow Oblast.[10]

Arrest and conviction

In December 2004, Skripal was arrested outside his house in Moscow′s Krylatskoye District shortly after returning from Britain.[19] In August 2006, he was convicted under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code (high treason in the form of espionage) by the Moscow Regional Military Court in the trial conducted behind closed doors.[19] Prosecution, which was represented personally by Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky, argued for a 15-year sentence – instead of the 20-year maximum under Article 275 – in recognition of mitigating circumstances such as his co-operation with investigators.[20][19] Skripal was sentenced to thirteen years in high security detention facility; he was also stripped of his military rank and decorations. The affair was not revealed to the public until after he was sentenced in August 2006.[21] Skripal's lawyers appealed the sentence,[22] which was upheld by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court on 30 November 2006.[23]

Release and life in UK

In July 2010, Skripal, along with three other Russian nationals imprisoned for espionage, was freed as part of a spy swap for the ten Russian agents arrested in the United States as part of the Illegals Program,[24][25][26] after being pardoned by the then President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev.[27] The UK government insisted on Skripal being included in the swap.[10]

Skripal moved to Salisbury, Wiltshire, where he purchased a house in 2011.[28] According to British security officials, Skripal continued to provide information to the UK and other Western intelligence agencies after 2010 for a period.[18] Skripal's wife died in 2012 of disseminated endometrial cancer. His daughter returned to Moscow in 2014 and worked in sales.[10] His son died aged 43 in March 2017, in unknown circumstances, on a visit to Saint Petersburg;[29] Sergei's older brother died within the two years before Skripal's poisoning.[2][30] Both Skripal's wife and his son are buried in a cemetery local to Salisbury.[31]

Poisoning

Main article: Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
The Mill pub visited by Skripal on the day he was poisoned.

On 4 March 2018, Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia, who was visiting from Moscow, were found unconscious (in a catatonic state[32]) on a public bench near a shopping centre in Salisbury by a passing doctor and nurse.[33][34] Paramedics took them to Salisbury District Hospital where medical staff determined that the pair had been poisoned with a nerve agent.[8] The police declared a major incident as multiple agencies were involved.[7] Following the incident, health authorities checked 21 members of the emergency services and the public for symptoms;[35][36] three police officers were hospitalised – two had minor injuries, while one, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who had been sent to Sergei Skripal's house, was in a serious condition.[37][38] As of 11 March 2018 Skripal and his daughter remain critically ill, and Bailey is seriously ill but stable.[39][40]

On 6 March, it was agreed under the National Counter Terrorism Policing Network that the Counter Terrorism Command based within the Metropolitan Police would take over the investigation from Wiltshire Police. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, appealed for witnesses to the incident following a COBR meeting chaired by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.[31]

On 12 March 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May identified the nerve agent used in the attack as a Russian-made Novichok agent and demanded explanation from the Russian government.[41][42]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Corera, Gordon (10 March 2018). "Sergei Skripal - the Russian former spy at centre of poison mystery". BBC News.
  2. ^ a b c Morris, Steven; Harding, Luke; Bannock, Caroline (6 March 2018). "Woman in Russian spy mystery identified as Sergei Skripal's daughter". The Guardian (US ed.). London. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  3. ^ BBCLive, Bristol: Woman in hospital with former Russian spy is his daughter 'Mr Skripal's 43-year-old son – died last year... in St Petersburg... after being rushed to hospital with liver failure', BBC, Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Who is former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal?". BBC News. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b Dodd, Vikram; Harding, Luke; MacAskill, Ewen (8 March 2018). "Sergei Skripal: former Russian spy poisoned with nerve gas, say police". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  6. ^ Dodd, Vikram; MacAskill, Ewen; Grierson, Jamie; Morris, Steven (9 March 2018). "Sergei Skripal attack: investigators wear protective suits at cemetery". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Critically ill man 'former Russian spy'". BBC News. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Russian spy: Russia 'has no information' on Sergei Skripal collapse". BBC News. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d e Тихомиров, Владимир (8 March 2018). "Яд для шпиона. Кто и зачем отравил экс-разведчика Сергея Скрипаля". Life.ru.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Сергей всегда был начеку": как жил Скрипаль в России и Британии BBC, 8 March 2018.
  11. ^ Налоговый полицейский узнал своего вербовщика: Он оказался старым знакомым контрразведчиков ФСБ Kommersant, 16 August 2007.
  12. ^ A hundred grand and hundreds of betrayed agents What was former GRU Colonel Sergey Skripal's treason against Russia? Meduza, 6 March 2018.
  13. ^ a b Ben Mecintyre. Sergei Skripal: 'Forthwith' gave MI6 telephone directory of Russian agents The Times, 10 March 2018.
  14. ^ Шпион-идальго: ФСБ назвала имя британского шпиона, вербовавшего российских силовиков Lenta.ru, 15 August 2007.
  15. ^ Лондон пообещал Москве жесткий ответ в случае причастности РФ к инциденту со Скрипалем Interfax, 6 March 2018.
  16. ^ Russian convicted spy colonel worked for Britain's MI6 RIA Novosti/Sputnik, 9 August 2006.
  17. ^ "Russian colonel sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for Britain". Agence France-Presse. 9 August 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007.
  18. ^ a b Neil Buckley, David Bond, Henry Foy. The unanswered questions over the attack on a Russian double agent Financial Times, 9 March 2018 (print edition of 10 March 2018)
  19. ^ a b c Полковник на службе ее величества: Осужден агент британской разведки в ГРУ Kommersant, 10 August 2006.
  20. ^ Отставной полковник спецслужб Скрипаль получил 13 лет за шпионаж в пользу британской разведки NEWSru, 9 August 2006.
  21. ^ "Russian colonel jailed for spying". BBC News. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Colonel convicted of spying for U.K. appeals verdict". RIA Novosti/Sputnik. 10 August 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  23. ^ Оставлен в силе приговор полковнику Скрипалю, осужденному за шпионаж RIA Novosti, 30 November 2006.
  24. ^ "Russia and US preparing spy swap". The Telegraph. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  25. ^ Parfitt, Tom; Weaver, Matthew; Norton-Taylor, Richard (9 July 2010). "Spy swap: US and Russia hand over agents in full media glare". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  26. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard; Parfitt, Tom; Clark, Andrew (11 July 2010). "British security services debrief two Russians freed in spy swap". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Boris Johnson warns Russia over spy collapse". BBC News. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  28. ^ "Salisbury, scratchcards and sausage: the quiet life of Sergei Skripal". The Guardian. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  29. ^ Dodd, Vikram; MacAskill, Ewen; Morris, Steven (9 March 2018). "Russian spy attack: military convoy arrives at Salisbury hospital". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  30. ^ "Russian spy: Sergei Skripal collapsed alongside daughter". BBC News. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  31. ^ a b "'More known' about substance in spy case". BBC News. 7 March 2018.
  32. ^ In Poisoning of Sergei Skripal, Russian Ex-Spy, U.K. Sees Cold War Echoes The New York Times, 6 March 2018.
  33. ^ "Russian spy: What we know so far". BBC News. 8 March 2018.
  34. ^ "Alleged former Russian spy critically ill after exposure to unknown substance in Salisbury". The Daily Telegraph. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  35. ^ "Up to 21 people treated after nerve agent attack on Russian spy Sergei Skripal". ITV News. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  36. ^ Casciani, Dominic (9 March 2018). World at One. BBC Radio 4. Event occurs at 21m47s. Retrieved 9 March 2018. there was some erroneous reporting that there were 21 other people being treated, that is not true, there has only been these three casualties and they are all still in hospital
  37. ^ "Russian spy 'attacked with nerve agent'". BBC News. 7 March 2018.
  38. ^ Robert Mendick (9 March 2018). "Russian spy may have been poisoned at home, police believe, as military deployed to Salisbury". Telegraph.
  39. ^ "Russian ex-spy, daughter still critical". SBS. 11 March 2018.
  40. ^ Patrick Sawer (11 March 2018). "Poisoned police officer: 'I'm not a hero. I was just doing my job'". Telegraph.
  41. ^ "Russian spy: Highly likely Moscow behind attack, says Theresa May". BBC News. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  42. ^ Barry, Ellen; Pérez-Peña, Richard (12 March 2018). "Britain Blames Russia for Nerve Agent Attack on Former Spy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
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