Britain is a soft touch
Russian tells UK to get tough over attack EX-KGB CHIEF WARNS PUTIN WILL STRIKE AGAIN
ONE of Russia’s top ex-KGB officers says Vladimir Putin could order more assassinations here unless the Government hits back.
In an extraordinary interview, Oleg Kalugin last night told the Mirror the president saw Britain as a “soft touch”.
The former general said Theresa May should now kick out the Russian ambassador after the novichok poisonings.
And he warned of the possibility of further Salisbury-style attacks.
Speaking after Britain named the alleged assassins as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, Mr Kalugin said: “The Russians see Britain as a soft touch.
“I would not rule out more assassinations.
SCRUPLES
“Now that you’ve identified two assassins, I feel Britain should at the very least expel the Russian ambassador. That would send a proper signal.”
He added: “Putin is not afraid to attack those of his enemies who he thinks betrayed him personally. He would have no scruples about doing so again, through whatever agency.”
Mr Kalugin, formerly chief of KGB counter-intelligence, is still on the run.
If he returns to Russia he will spend the rest of his life in jail. And Mr Kalugin believes he would have been killed long ago if he lived in the UK.
He was Putin’s boss when they both worked in the KGB in Leningrad in the 1970s. The pair now hate each other.
Mr Kalugin was so senior, he was one of only three men in a meeting in which the KGB sanctioned the assassination of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, via a poisoned umbrella, in London in 1978.
And he told of his surprise over claims Russia used its GRU military intelligence unit to carry out the Salisbury attack.
He said: “The only thing that has surprised me about the Skripal attack was that, according to the British, the attackers were from the GRU.
“In my days, the GRU was only there to pick up military secrets. Dealing with traitors was only a job for us, the KGB.”
He added of the nature of the attack: “Just note how differently the Russians, and before them the Soviets, have acted in the US. Yes, they interfere in elections but they have never, to my certain knowledge, even attempted a political assassination on US soil.
“Of course, Britain has less means to make Putin feel threatened. But it’s been lacking in strong counter-action.”
Mr Kalugin went on: “Internally, I’m not sure Britain realises the dangers.
Intelligence activities have been re-activated by Putin after something of a lull under [his predecessor] Boris Yeltsin.
“So far, the British Government and security agencies have failed in their job. Sergei Skripal served them well as a double agent, so how could they leave him unprotected in Salisbury?
“Skripal was a full colonel in Russia’s military intelligence. He was an obvious target for Russian revenge.”
Mr Kalugin lives with his Russian wife in a small bungalow on the east coast of the US, where he once posed as a reporter during his spy days.
Speaking of a future visit to the UK, he said: “I know this could expose me to Putin’s assassins, but I don’t care. I’ve had a full life and I’m an old man.
“My last trip to Britain was very unpleasant. The police picked me up as I arrived at Heathrow. They interrogated me about Markov.
“But our embassy got me out the next day and I flew back to Moscow. I was not the killer of Georgi Markov.”
But he said: “I was one of only three men who discussed whether the KGB should help the Bulgarians in Markov’s killing. I sat at KGB headquarters in 1978 with our chief Yuri Andropov [later Soviet Union President] and his deputy. It was his decision.
“My department, counter-intelligence, never carried out killings. Our job was to get secret information.”
Mr Kalugin went on: “Our science and technology directorate had the weapon designed and constructed in Japan. It was an umbrella that fired a small dart into Markov’s leg. I believe that department still exists.”
He said British security services should have learned after failing to protect defector Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned in London in 2006. Mr Kalugin said: “He met with his killers more than once without MI5 intervening or getting close protection.
“It didn’t take a genius to work out Litvinenko’s life was deeply in danger.”
Mr Kalugin was called an American stooge by Putin. He said: “I publicly accused Putin of being a mass murderer for waging war in Chechnya.
“I’ve also had the guts to attack Putin in a book. If I had been living in Britain instead of the US, I would have been dead long ago.”
And he warned it was possible British intelligence services still have Russian double agents within them.
Mr Kalugin said: “We had between 10 and 20 agents inside MI5 and MI6 when I was in charge of foreign counter-intelligence. Russia’s intelligence services, who took over from the KGB, still have that capability.”
He added of Salisbury: “I think more will emerge in the next few weeks.”
If I lived in Britain instead of the US, I’d be dead by now OLEG KALUGIN ON UK BEING OPEN TO ATTACKS