Eye Spy - May 2018

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018 65

enior US intelligence sources have

revealed that amongst the 50-or-so

Russian diplomats expelled from the

United States, a number were part

of a Kremlin team placed in the country to

identify the location and new identities

assigned to several defectors. One such

target was still operational and active within

a CIA programme that provided covert

assistance in a ‘resettlement’ programme

for former Russian spies.

Officials believe the Russian team may well

have been “preparing the ground to target

emigrees,” designated ‘enemies and trai-

tors’ by the Kremlin’. Though little evidence

S

THE SECRET

KREMLIN

‘PREPARATION’

TEAM

TARGETING ENEMIES OF THE STATE

in the form of documentation exists regard-

ing the claim, by coincidence, earlier this

year, the US Senate Foreign Relations

Committee produced a report regarding the

suspicious deaths of around 25 critics of

President Putin. A note in the report

references a law passed in Russia that

states... ‘permits the assassination of

enemies of the Russian regime who live

abroad’. It continues: ‘The trail of mysteri-

ous deaths, all of which happened to people

who possessed information that the

Kremlin did not want public, should not be

ignored by Western countries on the

assumption that they are safe from extreme

measures’.

Russian Embassy,

Washington DC

critical condition), the situation remains

unclear. Thankfully Yulia has recovered

sufficiently and was released from hospital on

or around 10 April. Eye Spy sources believe

she has left the UK and is probably in hiding in

the United States. Yulia, via intelligence

channels, has declined to be interviewed by

Russian officials, though has given MI5 and

NSY officers a full and detailed dossier of her

time in the UK, and other useful information.

A DANGEROUS OCCUPATION

Theories (an abundance), motives, culprits

and VX delivery. All of this is speculation at the

moment, and much depends on how quickly

the agent affected the couple and from

whence it came and arrived in the UK. There

are snippets of interesting information

emerging on Skripal himself, including that he

was still in contact with intelligence people in

Russia and that he held a monthly meeting

with a Russian-speaking MI6 officer. The latter

suggestion is highly unlikely because the MI6

person would be open to compromise.

However, Eye Spy was told Skripal visited

Langley in the United States on more than one

occasion and was still engaged in some

aspects of the ‘great game’.

TALES FROM THE DARK SIDE

Former Russian spies have given their own

thoughts on the incident and other related

case files associated with the ‘Russian List’.

One former intelligence officer said Yulia was

surveilled in Russia allowing the FSB to track

Sergei in the UK - coded speak for a ‘gate-

way’. However, his residence was not secret,

nor too inter-actions with associates. Other

Russian ‘gangsters’ have boasted had they

really wanted [the Kremlin] to assassinate

Skripal, they could have done so in a more

“rudimentary fashion” and “at any time.”

AGENT GORDON

Some UK media houses have said MI5 has

already identified the culprits responsible for

depositing the nerve agent at various locations

frequented by Sergei Skripal. One of the

‘assassins’ supposedly used the cover name

‘Mihails Savickis’, and is codenamed

‘Gordon’. How accurate this information is Eye

Spy does not know. However, it was presented

to a journalist by a former FSB/KGB man Boris

Karpichkov, 59, who defected to Britain and is

now living in the UK. He worked with Gordon

in Russia and described him as “ruthless.”

Karpichkov was allegedly interviewed for five

hours by police. And like other defectors, his

name too appears on the Russian List. Either

way, Gordon is now said to have returned

safely to Russia.

SKRIPAL SANCTION

Continued on page 82

Media and police at the location

where the Skripals fell ill

© PETER CURBISHLEY

Boris Karpichkov

P64/65 3 2/5/18, 12:51 pm