Sergei Skripal

From A Closer Look On Syria
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia photographed two years ago in the Zizzi restaurant by Yulia's brother Alexandr
Sergei Skripal was recruited by Pablo Miller to spy for the UK. Skripal lived next to Miller in Salisbury. Miller worked for Christopher Steele's company Orbis, in addition to doing part-time work for the UK Foreign Office. It is speculated that Miller was involved in creating the Steele dossier on Trump. If so, it is possible that Skripal was one of the sources.
See also Poisoning of Sergei Skripal

Who is Sergei Skripal?

According to [Vladimir] Timoshkov, his friend [interviewed by the BBC in Russia], who he had known since school, did not see himself as a traitor as he had sworn an oath to the Soviet Union. "Many people shunned him. His classmates felt he had betrayed the Motherland," he said. "In 2012 he called me. We spoke for about half an hour. He called me from London. He denied he was a traitor... (he told me) he wrote to Vladimir Putin asking to be fully pardoned and to be allowed to visit Russia. His mother, brother and other relatives were (in Russia)."

Connection to Pablo Miller and Christopher Steele

Connection to Malta

Skripal as Malta embassy attache in the 1980's
See also Cambridge Analytica

Joseph Mifsud/Russiagate connections?

Moved to Joseph Mifsud

So what we’ve learned in the past few days is that Bill Browder and Thor Halvorssen have ties to former M16 spies including Pablo Miller who allegedly recruited Sergei Skripal and now works for Christopher Steele, the guy who wrote the Trump dossier. Browder also has close ties to Legatum whose staff has ties to Malta not only through the Atlantic Council but as we’ll see, through Henley & Partners’ passport program.

Dealings after the swap

See also disinformation: talk

'Regularly meeting officers at the Russian Embassy'?

  • Sergei Skripal: Former spy was in 'regular contact with Russian embassy', ex-Kremlin officer claims - The Independent, March 7, 2018
  • Vitaly Morozov, who knows Skripal', tells that Skripal' regularly met with officers at the Russian Embassy, finds it very strange; video -MSN, March 8, 2018; text-Mirror, March 7, 2018
    “If you have a military intelligence officer working in the Russian diplomatic service, living after retirement in the UK, working in cyber-security and every month going to the embassy to meet military intelligence officers - for me being political refugee, it is either a certain danger or frankly speaking, I thought that this contact might not be very good for me because it can bring some questions from British officials.” (Noted: detail on meeting officers is unusual and outside a normal conversation; Morozov does not explain how this detail came about; if Skripal' volunteered to provide this detail, it would be quite natural to wish to stay away from such person).
  • Fellow Russian exile claims poisoned spy Sergei Skripal was NOT retired and was still working with military intelligence - Mirror, March 7, 2018
    The Russian Embassy told the programme: “We are not aware of any contacts between Sergei Skripal and any of the Embassy staff. "As we have previously said, Mr Skripal was not on the consular register.” (Noted: whether or not he was on register is irrelevant).

Yulia Skripal

See also Talk: Poisoning of Sergei Skripal#Yulia Skripal

See also Yulia Skripal audio
''I will say that nerve agents work by attaching themselves to a particular enzyme in the body which then stops the nerves from working properly. This results in symptoms such as sickness, hallucinations and confusion. -- Christine Blanschard
  • Statement issued on behalf of Yulia Skripal by the Scotland Yard, April 11, 2018
    Russian consulate in London expressed doubt that the statement is genuinely by Yulia. 'The text is composed to support the British position', and 'to exclude contacts with the outside world'. 'None of quoted in press friends and family confirms contacts with Yulia' (Rus.), (Eng). (Noted: in Russia, important statements by non-officials often appear as videos, in part to be sure that a person quoted indeed said it and is not misquoted or altogether misrepresented).
  • EXC: Yulia Skripal fears she was betrayed by fiancé in poison attack - Daily Mail, April 11, 2018
    Noted: the claim is unsourced. There have been no confirmed contacts of Yulia with the outside world; with the phone call with Victoria Skripal the closest to the confirmed category. But contact with Victoria was not continued.
  • Yulia Skripal Is Plainly Under Duress - Craig Murray, April 11, 2018
    The most probable explanation is that Yulia persuaded somebody else in the hospital to lend her a phone, without British officials realising. That would explain why the first instinct of the British state and its lackey media was to doubt the authenticity of the call. It would explain why she was able to contradict the official narrative on their health, and why she couldn’t get a return call.
  • Yulia makes public statement Telegraph 23, May, 2018 Appears at undisclosed location. Yulia's Hand written statement
    Talking from an undisclosed location in the capital, the Russian appeared to have a scar on her neck, consistent with that of a patient who has had to have a tracheostomy.
    This may be thyroid surgery scar. It is usually wider than tracheostomy scar.
  • Exclusive - Yulia Skripal: Attempted assassination turned my world upside down -Reuters, 23, May, 2018, with video, handwritten text in Eng. and Rus., and photos.
    Skripal spoke in Russian and supplied a statement that she said she had written herself in both Russian and English. She signed both documents after making her statement. She declined to answer questions after speaking to camera.
    Noted: the text and oral statement are very close. When making her statement, there is an impression that it was memorized (or read from teleprompter?) Lots of up and down eye movement. Also noted: no blame for the attack assigned; no indication given of having memory of the attack itself; treatment is described invasive and painful, followed by thanks to the hospital staff; desire to return to Russia stated, followed by rejection of consular assistance, at this time. Physical: scar; hair colored; makeup. --Resup (talk) 18:04, 23 May 2018 (UTC)
    Viktoria Skripal, Russian consulate reaction suggests that the text was first written in English. It is very clear that the text is Western, English in style and presentation, but I am not entirely clear in which order things originated. Noted: Russian text is written faster (less calligraphic), and has the following alterations: I want to help (ie to the father; literally identical to English) is changed to intend to (be) help(ing) (намерена помогать); spoken presentation has 'I want to help' version; after his discharge from the hospital till his full recovery (same as spoken here). Some vocabulary are English calques, 'I want to return to my country ', 'please respect our privacy' , all that thanking-and-striking stuff, 'something I have done regularly in the past' follows info on arrival, etc; but it is unclear how much it deviates in substances from what she was up to say --Resup (talk) 01:18, 24 May 2018 (UTC)
    Russian Embassy response Obviously, Yulia was reading a pre-written text. More than that, judging by quite a few elements, the text was a translation from English and had been initially written by a native English-speaker. The handwritten letters signed by Yulia in Russian and English confirm this impression.
    Craig Murray blog Of the Russian Embassy she said very simply “I am not ready, I do not want their help”. Strangely this is again translated in the Reuters subtitles by the strangulated officialese of “I do not wish to avail myself of their services”, as originally stated in the unnatural Metropolitan Police statement issued on her behalf weeks ago. “I do not wish to avail myself of their services” is simply not a translation of what she says in Russian and totally misses the “I am not ready” opening phrase of that sentence. My conclusion is that Yulia’s statement was written by a British official and then translated to Russian for her to speak, rather than the other way round. Also that rather than translate what she said in Russian themselves for the subtitles, Reuters have subtitled using a British government script they have been given.
    In Russian, she says (literally) ....I am grateful to the Russian Embassy for the help offered, but at this moment I am not ready and do not want to make-use-of (воспользоваться) it --Resup (talk) 09:17, 25 May 2018 (UTC)
    See also: talk
  • BBC clip of statement on Youtube
    Video commentary-RT.
  • Юлия Скрипаль: я надеюсь однажды вернуться в Россию -BBC Russian service, 23 May 2018
  • [1] Afshin Rattansi Twitter
    Skripal statement delivered in an unknown location and only to the Reuters Agency run by https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/board-of-directors.html … indirectly owned by The Woodbridge Company of Ontario.
  • Эксклюзив «КП»: Виктория Скрипаль рассказала, что в видеообращении сестра произносила не свой текст -Komsomolskaya Pravda, 24 May, 2018
    Victoria Skripal believes that Yulia has read the text during her spoken presentation, based on lots of up and down eye movements, 'a bit low for Yulia' speed, in-one-go uninterrupted delivery, lack of some typical of her 'parasite words'
  • Frank Sellars, The Duran It’s interesting to see Yulia up and about, walking around, with no observable discrepancies in her ability to move and function normally, as well as to pen a statement, which would seem to show that whichever hand she writes with, and therefore may have touched the door knob with, assuming that the toxin was absorbed via the skin, therefore coming into contact with the lethal dose of the novichok class nerve agent, is not suffering serious nerve damage, given the precision and control with which she apparently is able to coordinate.
  • YULIA SKRIPAL’S POSTSCRIPT – WHAT DID SHE WRITE, AND WHAT DIDN’T SHE SAY IN THE BRITISH GARDEN EVENT, PLUS THE NEUROLOGY EVIDENCE John Helmer Dances with bears May 27, 2018
    “no one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves”. In Russian what she said was: “nobody should or can speak for me and my father, except ourselves.” (noted: the difference here appears to do with easiness of flow in Russian)
    In English she was reported as saying: “Finally, I would like to again thank everyone involved in my continued care.” In Russian she said she wanted to thank “all the people who gave me support and help in this difficult period of my life.” In that last sentence Yulia expanded the geography of her gratitude to include British, Russians, and the world of support which her case has generated. (Noted: this may be either easiness of flow or genuinely different. There are words for care different from support, but those words are like nursing or medical care, highlighting her incapacity and not as elegant as support, which has a broader range. It is unclear whom she thanks and whether it involves anybody outside UK; apart from one brief and reserved call to Victoria, there is no other known outside contacts --Resup (talk) 11:27, 28 May 2018 (UTC) )
  • LONDON POLICE COMMISSIONER MAKES NEW CLAIM TO KEEP YULIA SKRIPAL INCOMMUNICADO, John Helmer, May 29, 2018
    Yulia Skripal: (cut) if this is OK for you (cut) at 1:09 of the top video here --Resup (talk) 11:30, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

July 2018

  • 'A new angle for the Skripal case: Julia was visited by a friend in Britain' -Moslovskii Komsomolets' (a tabloid), 4 July, 2018. A phone call from Yulia to a lady builder Diana repairing her MOscow flat allegedly occurred on 22 May, one day before Reuters published the first ever interview with Yulia. Yulia allegedly told that she is doing fine and will soon return.
  • Victoria Skripal told about well-being of her cousin Julia, telling that judged by the tone she is doing great, and not providing other details at this point -TASS, 4 July, 2018
  • Zakhraova: British special services control Yulia's phone calls -TASS, 5 July, 2018
    Zakharova statement was made in 1TV program 'Let them talk'(Pust govoriat), published online 5 July, 2018 In that program, a short fragment of Yulia's phone call with Victoria was played at around 33:00, with Victoria present. Prior to playback, we are reminded that according to Yulia all her calls are recorded (by the British).
    V: Yulia, we did not want to interfere in anything, me especially, all that I want is that you return home and live your own life
    Y: Nobody is preventing this, you see, I can do it on any day. But now I am busy with my father and recovering myself. That's it. And I do not understand, why all those statements. The statement which I made... not the right tone, memorized-not memorized, why is this any of your business? Nobody prepared anything, of course.
    V: I never told anything bad about you, anywhere and to anyone, about you or the father, let's start with this (=let's not forget this)
    Y:The very fact that it was done publicly spoiled (had a bad impact on) our life here a lot
    V:...and ours, too...
    Y: I cannot now return to Russia because all of that was played out in those stupid talk shows. Why on Earth did you go there? Because you showed up there, I cannot return to Russia, only because of that.
  • Russian Embassy Press Officer’s reply to a media question concerning continuing isolation of Yulia Skripal, 27 July, 2018

January 2019

The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday, citing UK security sources, that, contrary to earlier media reports, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still staying on the territory of the United Kingdom after vanishing from the public eye in the wake of the Salisbury incident. The paper said the ex-spy and his daughter were allowed to communicate with their friends and relatives. According to the publication, Yulia maintains contact with her close friends in Russia, who do not reveal any information about her. Moreover, some of her British and Russian friends even visited her last summer.Viktoria Skripal, however, questioned those reports, saying that the Skripals have not even tried to establish contact with Sergei Skripal’s mother, who is aged 91 and "is in a desperate need of such a conversation." "She [Yulia Skripal] reportedly contacts her friends in Moscow, who allegedly have Scotland Yard’s trust. Well, I know only one such person - her friend Gulnara. I have no information on whether she contacted her or not, I can’t be certain about that, but it seems strange that she talks to her, but cannot phone her 91-year-old grandmother," Viktoria said.

May 2019

  • Despite Yulia previously (May 2018) expressing a desire to return to Russia, Sergei Skripal’s niece told TASS.
    “Yulia Skripal does not plan to return to Russia: she has already sold a Ford car by proxy, and now there is an active sale going on for her two-room apartment. They are looking for a buyer – this is not secret, her friend is selling the apartment by proxy. They communicate with her friend through social networks” Tom Winter, Fort Russ News
  • In February The Mirror reported Sergei Skripal is in poor health: Police are quoted in a report as saying: “He [Skripal] is going to be receiving close medical care for some time.”

Stepan Vikeev

  • Yulia Skripal's mystery partner 'goes into hiding' along with his mother - Daily Mail, April 21, 2018
    (See comment to earlier similar Daily Mail article, April 11, 2018, above). Also, in the Scotland Yard statement, she is quoted saying I have access to friends and family; what's 'access'? 'Access' is not the same as contact. If she does have any actual contacts, why not to say so, explicitly and with details?
  • Stepan Vikeev is a Ph.D in economics, + part-time poet and video gamer. His mother is with a corporate security research and industrial organization 'Institute for modern problems in security' founded by 'Norilsk mining company named after Zevyagin'. Corporate security in general is the lowest in hierarchy and far away from state security or any special tools or substances. Stepan is said to be in the same structure, likely in his economics role. There is a quite notable flow of money through the company, around 2.8 mln USD in receivables yearly, with a comparable amount in expenses. But no evidence of villain use of those moneys, even less of such an exotic villainy. Disliking is one thing, but killing in a manner causing major international crisis is in quite another ballpark.
  • [2] Mr Vikeev has not answered Ms Skripal’s calls since she was discharged from hospital and deleted all his social media accounts after the attack, for which the government has blamed Russia….. Alexander Mercouris The Duran April 24, 2018

Twitter?

See also: (more on) cat names

Other people

Boris Karpichkov

  • KGB KILLER Cops identify ‘former KGB assassin ('Gordon'), 54, trained in martial arts and with law degree as prime suspect in Salisbury poisonings’ -The Sun, 21/22 April, 2018
  • The most wanted criminal of Latvia - counterintelligence Boris Karpichkov -kriminal.lv;, 2.8.2010
    By the way, just the other day Karpichkov through the newspaper The Daily Mail accused the special services of the United Kingdom in the death of military expert David Kelly. For reference: David Kelly was engaged in exposing falsifications in the reports of the British government on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In July 2003, he was found dead in a forest in Oxfordshire. The investigation concluded that death occurred as a result of suicide. However, Karpichkov is sure that they have got rid of the expert scientist for "reckless behavior." As a source of information about Kelly's murder, the ex-counter-intelligence called his former boss Peter Everett, who led the company Group Global Intelligence Services. In this firm worked former intelligence officers MI-5, who performed detective work on orders of private firms. Everett confirmed that he had met Karpichkov and talked to him about Kelly's death. But he categorically denies the fact that he knew anything about this crime. Currently, the Attorney General of Great Britain is studying the materials sent to him by Karpichkov. Most likely, Karpichkov hopes that with the help of this statement, made on July 25, he will not again be extradited to Latvia.
  • Mirror got 'Gordons censored portrait

Ross Cassidy

Skripal's "best friend" Ross Cassidy "speaks for the first time", to the Daily Mail published on September 9, 2018.

Urban book

Four months after the incident, BBC reporter Mark Urban informed the public that he had intervieved Skripal several times during the summer of 2017 for a book about Russian Intelligence he was writing. As it turns out, Urban was an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment together with Pablo Miller, Skripals MI6 handler. When Craig Murray asked some straight-forward questions about this to Urban and the BBC, the former didn't answer at all and the latter pointed out that they are not obliged to answer these questions, and made a general statement which contained nothing at all about the connection to Miller, Steele and his dossier Murray had asked about.

Urban's book "THE SKRIPAL FILES - The Life and Near Death of a Russian Spy" is published on October 2, 2018. (Readable online here)

  • Sergei Skripal Did Not Believe Moscow Poisoned Him, New Book Claims - Sputnik, October 2, 2018
  • Sergei Skripal initially did not believe Russia tried to kill him – book - Luke Harding, The Guardian, October 2, 2018.
    When Skripal woke five weeks later from a coma, he faced some “difficult psychological adjustments” – not least the fact that he was at first reluctant to recognise he had been the target of a Kremlin “murder plot”.
    Urban discovered that Skripal spent much of his day watching Russia’s Channel One, a pro-Kremlin state broadcaster. He adopted “the Kremlin line in many matters”, the journalist writes, “even while sitting in his MI6-purchased house”, especially over Moscow’s fraught relations with Ukraine.
    Skripal, a former paratrooper, supported Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and referred disparagingly to Ukrainians as “simply sheep who needed a good shepherd”. Skripal also refused to believe Russian troops had entered eastern Ukraine covertly, saying that if they had, they would have quickly reached the capital, Kiev.
Slam dunk on the discrepancies between what we already know from Ross Cassidy about Skripal before the event, and what Urban and The Guardian's chief clown Luke Harding want us to believe now.

Is alive?