Daring games of a double agent
Poisoned Russian spy was 'codenamed Forthwith' and remained 'highly valued' by MI6 even after settling in Britain following exchange that led to release of glamorous GRU agent Anna Chapman
At the time of his arrest he was mocked as 'the spy with the Louis Vuitton bag' after grainy pictures showed him with an expensive looking bag at an airport en route on one meeting with his handlers.
The poisoned spy lying in a critical condition in hospital was codenamed ' Forthwith' and provided MI6 with a host of revealing information on Russian agents.
Sergei Skripal, who was ' deliberately targeted' in a nerve agent attack along with his daughter in Salisbury on Sunday, was regarded as a 'highly valued spy' for MI6.
Mr Skripal, 66, provided a wealth of intelligence on the GRU -- Russia's foreign intelligence service -- over a ten-year period, according to The Times.
Among the trove of data supplied to British authorities was the GRU's entire telephone directory.
He was first identified as a potential recruit for the Spanish intelligence -- but run by British intelligence because it was believed he would respond better to British handling.
While stationed in Spain as a GRU officer, Mr Skripal was approached by an MI6 officer who posed as a Spanish business partner, according to intelligence sources.
The first meeting between the Russian and British intelligence agents took place in 1996 when he was 44.
After he was diagnosed with diabetes he returned to Moscow, but frequently returned to Spain to recuperate.
His contact with MI6 would gradually expand to the point where he was appointed his own full-time case officer.
Mr Skripal retired from the GRU in 2000 but managed to secure a job through a former army colleague in the Moscow provincial government - continuing to provide MI6 with intelligence.
He was even bought a timeshare holiday home near Malaga, where he would meet the case officer over periods of three days.
Following each session, Mr Skripal would be paid between $ 5,000 and $ 6,000 in cash, which he then deposited into a Spanish bank account.
Sources also revealed that while his initial motivation was financial, he became increasingly more interested in Britain.
But MI6 made sure not to bring him to Britain in order to avoid giving away any link between ' Forthwith' and the service.
In one instance, Mr Skripal was said to have called an emergency meeting in Spain, during which he demanded $ 10,000 in cash and an MI6 officer flew out with the money the next day.
Intelligence sources believe Russia could be targeting double agents living in Britain due to MI6's success in recruiting spies since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
At least a dozen former MI6 agents are thought to be living in the UK under varying degrees of protection.
Their names are kept secret but their identities are not necessarily unknown to President Putin, himself a former Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB.
It is understood that Mr Skripal did not expose a large number of Russian spies working undercover in the West.
But he was able to provide specific information on Russian military intelligence structure, including the identities of hundreds of officers.
The intelligence he gathered was also shared with MI5 and other allies, including the CIA.
Even in his retirement from the GRU, he would maintain contact with British intelli- gence before finally being exposed as a double agent and arrested in 2004.
MI6 first lear nt that 'Forthwith' had been compromised when he failed to attend a meeting that same year.
He was jailed for 13 years in 2006 and was only released in the high- profile spy- swap which involved glamourous Russian agent Anna Chapman, who had been caught spying in the US.
After being debriefed by British security services, he was given a new life living in a £340,000 house in Wiltshire.
At the time of his arrest he was mocked as ' the spy with the Louis Vuitton bag' after grainy pictures showed him with an expensive looking bag at an airport en route on one meeting with his handlers.