The New York Times: Scripal Collaborates With Spanish Intelligence

Former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury, Britain, in March, has worked in recent years with intelligence officers in Spain, a country fighting the Russian mafia that has settled in its territory. Writes about this NewsRu with reference to The New York Times.

Photo: TV Center

As the newspaper notes, the information was confirmed by an employee of the Spanish intelligence service, whose name is not indicated, as well as journalist and writer Fernando Rueda, who publishes materials on the Spanish authorities.

According to sources, instead of leading an isolated life in Britain after retirement, Skripal continued to hold briefings for agents in the Czech Republic and Estonia. Now it turns out that he conducted his experience exchange activities in Spain.

According to Fernando Rueda, after moving to the UK in connection with the exchange of persons arrested on espionage charges, Scripal continued to visit Spain. According to the journalist, he was informed about this by sources in the intelligence of this country. There is reliable information that the ex-colonel of the GRU in recent years has met several times in Spain with intelligence officers. The content and exact time of these meetings are classified, sources noted.

Фото: Depositphotos

A former senior police officer in Spain reported that Skripal provided information on organized Russian crime to the authorities of this country. Skripal was recruited by British intelligence services in the middle of the 1990s in Spain, when, on assignment from the GRU, he worked in Madrid under the guise of a military attache at the Russian embassy, ​​the article quoted by InoPressa notes.

Spanish authorities have repeatedly reported about the raids on the Russian mafia. The media wrote that the influence of Russian organized crime is so strong in this country that, if desired, the Russian mafia can even change the composition of the government of the country by taking people to the office of the minister.

As the NYT was told by an ex-employee of the Spanish police, at first the authorities did not know how to effectively deal with the Russian mafia. According to him, Skripal and ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, deceased in London in 2006, as a result of poisoning with polonium-210, they gave a lot of valuable advice on this matter.

The fact that Skripal, living in the UK, continued to cooperate with Western intelligence agencies, providing them with various information, in March, immediately after the poisoning in Salisbury, wrote the Financial Times. However, then the intelligence was not called specific countries, except for the British.

It was noted that although Skripal’s value as an operational source quickly faded after exposure at home, he discussed with “friendly” agencies the capabilities and methods of Russian intelligence.

The new publication NYT reports that in 2012, Scripal traveled to Prague, where he met with intelligence officers from the Czech Republic. In 2016, he traveled to Tallinn, where he spoke with Estonian intelligence officers. In both cases, the trips took place with the approval of the British Foreign Intelligence Service MI-6, sources said. A few years ago Skripal repeatedly met with Czech intelligence services and visited Estonia, the American newspaper wrote back in May.

Фото: Depositphotos

According to the interlocutors of the newspaper, at meetings in Prague and Tallinn, Skripal spoke about the methods of work of the Russian intelligence service and, possibly, revealed the information on the basis of which the employees working undercover were expelled. A European source acknowledged that cooperation with Scripame helped diplomatic work.

Recall that in 2004, Skripal was arrested by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation and in 2006 was sentenced to 13 years in prison for treason, deprived of all titles and awards. In 2010, the ex-colonel was handed over to the United States as part of an exchange of persons arrested on espionage charges.

4 March 2018 year 66 year old Skripal and his 33 year old daughter Julia were discovered unconscious in Salisbury on a bench next to a shopping center. British authorities said the Skripals were poisoned with the Russian-origin nerve agent Novichok. In connection with the incident, London expelled a number of Russian diplomats, accusing Moscow of involvement in the chemical attack in Salisbury. Sergei and Yulia Skripal were discharged from the hospital a few weeks after the poisoning.

The Russian side denies any involvement in the incident. A new surge of interest in the life of Sergei Skripal from the media is associated with the recent announcement by the British authorities of the names of those suspected of being poisoned. According to London, GRU officers Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov (the names are not real), arrived in Britain from Moscow, inflicted a poisonous substance on the door handle of Skrypal’s house in Salisbury, after which they flew home.

Speaking 5 September in Parliament, British Prime Minister Theresa May called the actions of the GRU threatened all British citizens and all its allies and called for collective action against this Russian agency.

Фото: Depositphotos

On the eve of this, the British authorities officially placed the personal responsibility for the poisoning of Skripale on Russian President Vladimir Putin. British Deputy Secretary of the Interior Ben Wallace saidthat Putin as the head of state controls, finances and directs the military intelligence of Russia.

The authorities of the United States, Germany, Canada and France stated that they support the UK’s conclusions about Russia's involvement in the Skripale poisoning. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, once again assured that officials in Russia are not related to poisoning in Salisbury.

Previously ForumDaily опубликовал a complete list of sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe against Russia.

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