Eye Spy - May 2018

8 EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018

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ANATOMY OF THE

SKRIPAL SANCTION

British Intelligence move quickly to advise Downing Street that it has

no doubt agents deployed or operated by the Kremlin, attempted to

assassinate one of MI6’s former spies. The incident leads to the

biggest international expulsion of Russian spies in history...

ore than twelve years ago
former Russian intelligence
officer and MI6 agent
Alexander Litvinenko, died in
London. He was poisoned
Mwith Polonium-210 prepared
at the Avangard facility in Sarov, Russia. A
public inquiry subsequently concluded that
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally
approved his murder. Five years ago, the anti-
Putin billionaire Boris Berezovsky was found
hanged at his home in Berkshire; the coroner
recorded an open verdict. Both men had
turned against Moscow. These are just
‘moments’ in a long campaign that has seen
many Kremlin opponents targeted on British
soil and elsewhere.

THE RUSSIAN LIST

Six years ago, Eye Spy was informed a list

containing the names of around 100 Russians

and Russian-linked persons had surfaced. All

were designated ‘enemies of the motherland’,

and deemed ‘legitimate targets’. Known as the

‘Assassination’ or ‘Russian List’, soon the

names of many contained on the document

began to be crossed off.

And just recently, one more name could easily

have been removed (and may still be). We are

of course speaking of MI6 spy Sergei

Viktorovich Skripal, 66, a former Russian GRU

officer, who together with his daughter, Yulia,

33, were targeted in Salisbury, in the southern

county of Wiltshire. The ‘tool’ used in this

case being a military grade VX nerve agent. As

in previous cases, be they in the UK or

elsewhere, the poisoning of the Skripals follow

a pattern of alleged Russian violations of

international law, implausible claims of

innocence, hostile denials, tit-for-tat reprisals

and open threats.

Relevant to all of this, and following a quiet

two-year investigation conducted by several

American intelligence agencies, supported by

MI5 and MI6, a fur ther 15 deaths in the UK

over the past 15 years have been linked to

Russia.

THE HIDDEN HAND OF THE KREMLIN

Russia has an unwanted association with acts

of subterfuge and covert happenings. In 2014,

its forces invaded Ukraine and took Crimea -

Putin claimed they were ‘local volunteers’.

Moscow continues to deny any involvement in

the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight

MH17 with a Russian-made Buk missile fired

by pro-Russian separatists, also in 2014.

Political opponents of the Kremlin and several

outspoken journalists have also been

assassinated. All were killed by events brought

about by themselves, or simple acts of

violence by criminals, according to Kremlin

officials, whose hands remain untainted. In the

Skripal case, Russian UK envoy Vassily

Nebenzia denied that Russia had ever

manufactured the agent, and accused “the

countries who have carried out research on

these weapons, including Britain.”

The ‘VX weapon’ used on the Skripals was

quickly identified by specialist military experts

at the Defence, Science and Technology

Laboratory (Dstl) at Porton Down. It originates

from a group of nerve agents known as

Novichok, roughly translating to ‘newcomer’ in

English. Russia’s cover t Novichok chemical