Britain warns Russia over double agent's mysterious illness

By Toby Melville and Emily G Roe

 

A police officer stands outside a restaurant which was closed after former Russian inteligence officer Sergei Skripal, and a woman were found unconscious on a bench nearby after they had been exposed to an unknown substance, in Salisbury, Britain, March 6, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

 

SALISBURY, England (Reuters) - Britain warned Russia on Tuesday of a robust response if the Kremlin was behind a mysterious illness that has struck down a former double agent convicted of betraying dozens of spies to British intelligence.

 

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson named Sergei Skripal, once a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his daughter Yulia as the two people who were found unconscious on Sunday on a bench outside a shopping centre in southern England.

 

Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter were exposed to what police said was an unknown substance in the city of Salisbury. Both are still critically ill in intensive care, police said.

 

"We don't know exactly what has taken place in Salisbury, but if it's as bad as it looks, it is another crime in the litany of crimes that we can lay at Russia's door," Johnson told the British parliament.

 

"It is clear that Russia, I'm afraid, is now in many respects a malign and disruptive force, and the UK is in the lead across the world in trying to counteract that activity."

 

Prime Minister Theresa May was briefed at a meeting of the National Security Council on the investigation into the incident, her spokesman said without elaborating.

 

If Moscow were shown to be behind Skripal's illness, Johnson said, it would be difficult to see how UK representation could go to the World Cup in Russia in a normal way. A government source said that meant attendance of ministers or dignitaries.

 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Johnson's comments were "wild".

 

A previous British inquiry said President Vladimir Putin probably approved the 2006 murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in Litvinenko's killing.

 

Litvinenko, 43, an outspoken critic of Putin who fled Russia for Britain six years before he was poisoned, died after drinking green tea laced with the rare and very potent radioactive isotope at London's Millennium Hotel.

 

It took weeks for British doctors to discern the cause of Litvinenko's illness.

 

His murder sent Britain's ties with Russia to what was then a post-Cold War low. Relations suffered further from Russia's annexation of Crimea and its military backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels trying to topple him.

 

RUSSIAN DOUBLE AGENT

 

British authorities said there was no known risk to the public from the unidentified substance, but they sealed off the area where Skripal was found, which included a pizza restaurant and a pub, in the centre of Salisbury.

 

Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation though they said they believe there no risk to the public. Samples from the scene are being tested at Porton Down, Britain's military research laboratory, the BBC said.

 

Skripal, who passed the identity of dozens of spies to the MI6 foreign intelligence agency, was given refuge inBritain after being exchanged in 2010 for Russian spies caught in the West as part of a Cold War-style spy swap at Vienna airport.

 

The Kremlin said it was ready to cooperate if Britain asked it for help investigating the incident with Skripal.

 

Calling it a "tragic situation," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin had no information about the incident.

 

Asked to respond to British media speculation that Russia had poisoned Skripal, Peskov said: "It didn't take them long."

 

Russia's embassy in London said the incident was being used to demonise Russia and that it was seriously concerned by British media reporting of the Skripal incident.

 

Russia's foreign spy service, the SVR, said it had no comment to make. Russia's foreign ministry and its counter-intelligence service, the Federal Security Service (FSB), did not immediately respond to questions submitted by Reuters about the case.

 

FROM MOSCOW TO SALISBURY

 

Skripal was arrested by the FSB in 2004 on suspicion of betraying dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 after a secret trial.

 

Skripal, who was shown wearing a track suit in a cage in court during the sentencing, had admitted betraying agents to MI6 in return for money, some of it paid into a Spanish bank account, Russian media said at the time.

 

But he was pardoned in 2010 by then-president Dmitry Medvedev as part of a swap to bring 10 Russian agents held in the United States back to Moscow.

 

The swap, one of the biggest since the Cold War ended in 1991, took place on the tarmac of Vienna airport where a Russian and a U.S. jet parked side by side before the agents were exchanged.

 

One of the Russian spies exchanged for Skripal was Anna Chapman. She was one of 10 who tried to blend into American society in an apparent bid to get close to power brokers and learn secrets. They were arrested by the FBI in 2010.

 

The returning spies were greeted as heroes in Moscow. Putin, himself a former KGB officer, sang patriotic songs with them.

 

Skripal, though, was cast as a traitor by Moscow. He is thought to have done serious damage to Russian spy networks in Britain and Europe.

 

The GRU spy service, created in 1918 under revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, is controlled by the military general staff and reports directly to the president. It has spies spread across the world.

 

Since emerging from the John le Carre world of high espionage and betrayal, Skripal lived modestly in Salisbury and kept out of the spotlight until he was found unconscious on Sunday at 1615 GMT.

 

Wiltshire police said a small number of emergency services personnel were examined immediately after the incident and all but one had been released from hospital.

 

Skripal's wife died shortly after her arrival in Britain from cancer, the Guardian newspaper reported. His son died on a recent visit to Russia.

A white and yellow police forensics tent covered the bench where Skripal was taken ill.

 

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout, William Schomberg, Andy Bruce and Michael Holden in LONDON, Andrew Osborn, Polina Nikolskaya and Margarita Popova in MOSCOW and Mark Hosenball in WASHINGTON; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-07

Britain warns Russia of a robust response.

Theresa May is going to slap someone with her handbag.

28 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Britain warns Russia of a robust response.

Theresa May is going to slap someone with her handbag.

 

The ruskies are already shaking in their boots! 

 

 

 

"If Moscow were shown to be behind Skripal's illness, Johnson said, it would be difficult to see how UK representation could go to the World Cup in Russia in a normal way. A government source said that meant attendance of ministers or dignitaries.

 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Johnson's comments were "wild".

 

 

I am no expert and nor do I profess to know much about spying, Russia and the UK relationships. But I do think it is very irresponsible of Boris to make statements such as this, at a time when the USA and UK are constantly at logger heads. Its like the whole sage of Russia supposedly meddling in the  USA Presidential campaign. What and our countries don't do this ? If of course the Russians even did it. Maybe they did, maybe they did not. Not seen much actual evidence. But how can you condemn a nation of something, that you yourslves are doing. Its like one vandal condemning another vandal. Not taking sides at all, but it always makes me shake my head in the way politicians behave, when they are basically paid employees of the people who give them a job. Surely you gather all the information first, find out the cause of poisoning and make 100% sure what you say is 100% accurate. It can do terrible damage to countries relationships, by jumping the gun. Which of course, we can only presume, is what they want. Even if it was not a poisoning, we will never know. And if it was, then gather all the evidence first.  Show real proof. Produce the evidence. If they do, then they have a case. But I feel at this time, to constantly attack Russia is not the best path to good relations. As for mentioning sporting events. Really ? Does one have to bring politics into sports ? Not to say Russia is not to blame, who knows, or to say they are not wrong also in this whole spit and spat drama. But surely as people who are paid by the hard earning tax payer and are employees of the people of the UK, you should try and mend fences, not tear them down. You represent the people of the UK. Even if Russia is causing problems, which they may, or may not be. I have no idea. But is it not better to pour water on a fire, rather then petrol ? Why can't nations just get a long ? Most people do, or at least try to.

Until Putin goes the world is only one step away from war. This Meglamaniac is trying to live in the past. The Space race and arms race bankrupted Russia before and it will do the same again.As for doubters Britain is still number one in the world for soft power. Quite capable of making Russia smart 

30 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

As for doubters Britain is still number one in the world for soft power.

Exactly. 

Unfortunately in Britain we have a complete buffoon as Foreign Secretary. Like another buffoon over the pond he has a tendency for knee jerk blustering.  To threaten to withdraw England from the World Cup as a response is pathetic and downright embarrassing.  First it won't happen and second, if that is what he thinks is a "robust response" then god save us all!

 

But we have been here before and will be again and this storm in a teacup won't last for long. 

Putin is playing poker; he knows if push came to shove Russia is totally outclassed by the US. He's playing a bad hand very well. As for Boris, he's recognised worldwide as a buffoon, this is the persona he's chosen to adopt, so I suppose he has to live with it. I reckon, at heart, he's probably quite an intelligent guy. 

It has Russian spy agencies written all over it.  I hope the guy recovers.

It is a nerve agent

3 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

It has Russian spy agencies written all over it.  I hope the guy recovers.

Exactly. They've done the exact same thing before numerous times to similar targets, and this guy would be an obvious revenge target for them. Anyone who thinks otherwise is being extraordinarily naive - who else would have this sort of technology and who else would go after these two people?

 

As to the earlier point about this being just another in the long-running saga of Spy vs. Spy, of course it is. But does that mean we should just shrug our shoulders and say "that's the way it goes?" It should concern everyone outside of Russia how badly they're currently kicking the <deleted> of their Western counterparts, and how the traditional bulwark against them has been badly compromised and potentially are even directly under their control to a significant extent.

 

Russia have a multi-pronged strategy specific to each country, one that relies on a century of knowledge and experience and networks that have been established in each location. That they're so well organized and up-to-date on how to manipulate the technologies and social media to their advantage should be a surprise to no-one who observed the long Cold War. That vestiges of that long war and the enormous psy-ops that were created to fight it remain and remain in far better condition on the Russian side than the American. That these are considered much more important tools for them should similarly not be a surprise as they are far more cost-effective and the Russians know they can't outspend the US on military hardware. 

 

The only real surprise is that the Cold War hardliners are the ones who have been so quick to embrace Mother Russia and essentially support their psy-ops in order to gain short-term political advantage. The corruption of their basic position, morality and strategy becomes increasingly exposed daily. 

I suppose as long as the UK government allows London to be used as hub for Russian oligarchs/criminals where they can launder their money through UK banks, then we shouldn't be surprised when one of them gets bumped off from time to time.