‘ I hope my friend, Yulia Skripal, sees this and reaches out to me’
Irina Petrova was the best friend of Yulia, who, along with her father, was poisoned earlier this year in Salisbury. Nine months on, Anna Silverman discovers what happened next
it’s been a surreal year for Irina Petrova: first, her best friend of 27 years, Yulia Skripal, was the victim of an assassination attempt that became one of the biggest global news stories of 2018. Then, she had to adjust to news that Yulia had made a miraculous recovery – yet she might still never get to speak to her again.
‘I’ve phoned and emailed Yulia many times this year,’ says Irina. ‘I email saying, “How can I help you? I’m here for you. It doesn’t matter where you are, I’m always here for you.” But she won’t reply because she has had to disappear.’
On 4 March, Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury after being poisoned by the chemical nerve agent Novichok. Then, four months later, Dawn Sturgess died after being exposed to the same Novichok nerve agent, believed to have come from a discarded perfume bottle.
The assassination attempt shocked the world and left the West’s relations with Moscow colder than ever. It sparked huge global ramifications after Theresa May said it was ‘highly likely’ Moscow was behind it, and more diplomats were expelled from countries around the world than at the height of the Cold War.
Sergei, 66, remained unconscious for a month, while Yulia, 34, was in a coma for 20 days. After they both regained consciousness, they were quickly whisked away into a life of obscurity to protect them from future murder attempts. They are said to have been given new identities by British authorities and entered the world of safe houses and false passports.
‘I understand why,’ adds Irina, 34, who went to school with Yulia in Moscow, but now lives in Hamburg after she moved for her husband’s job. ‘She’s in a secret place because it is dangerous for her now. She is the only one who really knows what happened to her and Sergei this year. It’s difficult for me, but I hope it’s for the best for her and she is safe. I know Yulia is tough. But I want to know how she is feeling now. Living like that isn’t a real life.’
Irina says she misses Yulia and, for the first few months after the attack, she was living in complete shock. ‘I wanted
to do this interview because I know Yulia will see it and I want her to reach out to me.’
The pair grew up together, with Irina and their friends often partying at Yulia’s house until the early hours when Sergei and Yulia’s mother, Ludmila, were away. Even when they were home, Irina says they were always very welcoming.
‘ When Sergei was arrested for espionage in 2004, it was on every news channel. We were really surprised. Yulia wouldn’t talk about it,’ Irina says. Sergei then spent four years in a Russian prison for spying before being moved to Britain as part of a spy-swap deal in 2010.
Yulia was still living in Moscow at the time of the poisoning, but was over in Salisbury visiting her father. Since the attack, Irina hasn’t been able to speak to anyone in Yulia’s family. Irina never predicted Yulia would be caught up in anything like this, but with hindsight now says she did find it strange when Yulia didn’t mention to her that her mother and brother had died a few years earlier.
‘ Year after year, everybody was dead,’ she says. ‘I found out [about Yulia’s mother’s death] from my mother, who bumped into Yulia in the street in Moscow. I asked what happened and she told me it was cancer. After the mysterious death of her brother [reported to be from liver disease], I was shocked. He was a big, healthy guy. After that she deleted all photos with relatives in them from her social media – perhaps so no other loved ones could be tracked down.’
Whether the deaths in Yulia’s family were suspicious, or whether they spooked Yulia into thinking she and her dad were next, Irina isn’t sure. But since the Salisbury attack, Irina wonders whether Sergei will survive.
‘I wonder whether he will recover and ever live normally. It doesn’t sound good with him. He hasn’t done any voice or TV appearances. He was meant to call his mother, Jelena, on her 90th birthday in June, but Yulia called her instead because I heard he still had tubes in his throat.’
After Yulia regained consciousness in April, she gave a televised statement asking the world to give her and her father privacy. Five months later, British authorities identified two Russian nationals, who went by the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, as suspected of the Skripals’ poisoning. The Russian military intelligence officers – who were caught on CCTV – were mocked after stating that they went to Salisbury twice to see the city’s cathedral, but turned back on the first trip because there was slush on the ground.
Now, all Irina can do is get updates about her friend by watching the news. ‘I find everything out from her auntie, Viktoria, who loves to give interviews on Russian TV, so I get all my information now from the media.
‘Maybe one day I will be able to see Yulia again… but I don’t think it will be soon. I think she will change her name and move to another continent. I really hope she reaches out to me. She’s such a lovely person and I miss us being in touch.’