Skripals offered new life in US
BRITAIN: Sergei and Yulia Skripal will be offered new identities and a new life in America.
In an attempt to protect the victims of the Salisbury attack from further murder attempts, intelligence officials at MI6 have had discussions with their counterparts in the CIA about resettling the Skripals in the US. ‘‘They will be offered new identities,’’ a senior UK government figure said.
Senior sources revealed both victims were conscious and would soon begin helping investigators with their inquiries into the nerve agent attack on March 4. Yulia, 33, a Russian citizen, has rejected demands by the Russian embassy in London that it provides her and her father with consular support – a move that has convinced British officials that she might move to the West permanently.
While Sergei Skripal, 66, is awake, his recovery is ‘‘further behind’’ that of his daughter, but one source said ministers ‘‘hope they can both assist us with what happened soon’’. Despite their recovery, senior officials said life for the Skripals ‘‘would likely never be the same again’’ and that they could have injuries that would ‘‘require ongoing medical care’’.
Security sources said Britain would want to ensure their safety by relocating them with one of the ‘‘five eyes’’ countries, the intelligence-sharing partnership that also includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
‘‘The obvious place to resettle them is in America, because they’re less likely to be killed there and it’s easier to protect them there under a new identity,’’ an intelligence source familiar with the negotiations added. ‘‘There’s a preference for them to be resettled in a five-eyes nation because their case would have huge security implications.’’
Senior figures in Downing Street are seeking to persuade the national security adviser, Mark Sedwill, and Britain’s spy chiefs to reveal more of the intelligence that convinced Britain’s allies that the novichok nerve agent used in the attack came from Russia.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague is expected to confirm this week that the nerve agent was novichok.
The chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-gordon, who has been briefed on ‘‘some of the intelligence’’, called on the government to ‘‘reveal a little more of the evidence’’. De Bretton-gordon said he was ‘‘100 per cent confident’’ that Russia was responsible. ‘‘I am absolutely clear that the Russians are guilty of this and the UN security council should take them to task for it.’’
Intelligence sources have cast doubt on claims that Britain has emasculated Russia’s spy network in the West despite having more than 150 of its diplomats expelled from 28 countries, including 23 from the UK.
The Kremlin has spies in the UK, unconnected to the Russian embassy, who have continued to carry out intelligence-collecting operations.
‘‘Russia’s illegals programme specialises in running agents who have nothing to do with the embassy in London,’’ another intelligence source said. ‘‘So the Kremlin would not just be relying on diplomatic cover for its intelligence collection.’’