Ex-Russian spy ill after exposure to ‘unknown substance’
SALISBURY, England — A former Russian spy is critically ill after exposure to an “unknown substance,” British media reported in a case that immediately drew parallels to the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.
National and local authorities said only that a man and a woman were found unconscious Sunday afternoon on a bench in a shopping mall in Salisbury, about 90 miles west of London.
British media identified him as Sergei Skripal, 66, who was convicted in Russia on charges of spying for Britain and sentenced in 2006 to 13 years in prison. Skripal was freed in 2010 as part of a U.S.-Russian spy swap.
Wiltshire police said the man and woman appeared to know one another and had no visible injuries. “They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. Both are currently in a critical condition in intensive care,” the police department said in a statement.
The discovery led to a dramatic decontamination effort. Crews in billowing yellow moon suits worked into the night spraying down the street, and the Salisbury hospital’s emergency room was closed.
The BBC, which first identified Skripal as one of the victims, quoted eyewitness Freya Church as saying it looked like the woman and man had taken “something quite strong.”
“On the bench there was a couple, an older guy and a younger girl. She was sort of leaned in on him. It looked like she had passed out, maybe,” Church said. “He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky.”