Eye Spy - May 2018

40 EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018

ollowing events in Salisbury,

the son of a former Soviet

chemical specialist and

defector, wants his father’s

body exhumed. Vladimir

‘METAL EYES AND AN ALUMINIUM GLINT’

F
Pasechnik, who lived a few miles from
the Skripal incident, was once one of
the Soviet Union’s most valued germ
warfare scientists. He spent the last
12 years of his life convinced the KGB
would kill him.

According to his son, Nikita, 53,

Pasechnik defected in 1989, and

revealed a network of laboratories

whose 10,000 scientists and techni-

cians were working on ways to

disperse disease in second wave

attacks following a nuclear strike.

“There were facilities from St

Petersburg to Novosibirsk making

tens of thousands of litres of

biological weapons agents; munitions

factories modifying missiles to spread

anthrax, ebola and smallpox.”

Pasechnik’s own laboratory was

developing a strain of plague.

In 1989, Pasechnik fled to the UK and

shared all he knew with British

Intelligence. He found work at the

Centre for Applied Microbiology and

Research at Porton Down, develop-

ing vaccines. In 2000, one year be-

fore he died, he established his

own biotechnology company, Regma

Biotechnologies. Ironically, according

to his son, he became close friends

with fellow weapons expert, Dr David

Kelly, who debriefed him after his

defection. Kelly was found dead

in suspicious circumstances in

Oxfordshire in 2003 following events

surrounding the Iraqi WMD probe.

“My father told me he knew there had

been a decision in a closed court of

the FSB to kill him, I couldn’t believe

it.” Nikita said: “I said, don’t play 007

games, who is going to kill you? I was

young and didn’t understand.”

In 2001 Pasechnik had a stroke, aged

64. He died in hospital three weeks
    after being admitted with dizzying
    headaches. His son said that during
    one of his lucid moments “he said he
    needed to speak with Dr Kelly.”

TOXICOLOGY TEST

Nikita now wants his father’s body

exhumed for toxicology testing. He

concedes that defectors are not

immortal, but another Russian being

poisoned in the same city has made

him suspicious. “If you look at all the

cases in isolation, you’ll never see the

full picture.”

Nikita added: “My father said he could

spot a Russian in any crowd... he

thought he could identify KGB intelli-

gence officers just by their stare - it’s

something about the way they look at

you - the KGB have eyes like metal...

there is this aluminium glint.”

Pasechnik’s intelligence was

confirmed by another defector who

was deputy of Russia’s biological

weapons programme - Colonel

Kanatzhan Alibekov.

Nikita and Vladimir

Pasechnik

AFTERMATH

See Page 58

WORLDWIDE RESPONSE

KGB SPIES:

gathering of media people, Yakovenko then

delved into the Cold War book of legendary

statements: “I would like to quote President

Reagan who said ‘history shows that British

statements must be verified.’”

Despite Yakovenko’s commentary, investiga-

tors from the Organisation for the Prohibition

of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in the

UK and visited sites where forensic evidence

had been collected. They were also given

samples for independent verification. RIES OF

DELIVERY

Initial media reports suggested Skripal and his

daughter Yulia may have been exposed to the

deadly nerve agent through the Skripal’s BMW

saloon’s ventilation system. Other sources

claim the VX was sprayed into the car, or as a

dust compound on the vehicle’s handles.

However, on 28 March, NSY Deputy Assistant

Commissioner Dean Hayden, Senior National

Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing

said: “We believe the Skripals first came into

contact with the nerve agent from their front

door. We are therefore focusing much of our

efforts in and around their address.” Investiga-

tors who searched locations in the city where

the Skripals visited, discovered the highest

concentration of VX on the front door,

suggesting it was here the victims first

touched the nerve agent.

There are also theories the attack may have

been carried out in similar fashion to that

which resulted in the demise of Kim Jong-

nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader

Kim Jong-un in Malaysia, 2017. He was killed

when VX was sprayed into his face by

assailants at Kuala Lumpur International

Airport. Another point of inquiry surrounds a

number of items recovered at the Skripals

residence which were brought into the country

by Yulia. These include clothing, cosmetics

and a few gifts given to her father.

The scale of the Skripal investigation is

immense. New Scotland Yard announced it

was examining over 5,000 hours of recovered

CCTV footage; that 250 officers have been

assigned to the case; 600 statements taken

and over 1,500 ‘exhibits’ recovered. Since the

attack, of course, the West has responded by

ejecting nearly 150 Russian spies.

Sergei Skripal

caught on CCTV

a few days

before he was

attacked

High levels of VX were found on the

front door of Skripal’s house - these

have now been removed (below)

Colonel

Kanatzhan

Alibekov