Russian Spy Targeted in Britain. But by whom?


A still from historic footage showing Sergei Skripal being arrested in by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB)


Convicted spy, Russian Colonel Sergei Skripal found in comatose condition with female companion in Salisbury, England. They are now in hospital in a critical condition.

Police refer to "an unknown substance" and the possibility that this may be an assassination attempt by a foreign agency. 

There are suggestions that Col Skripal had recently expressed fears to the police that his life may be in danger the Telegraph reports here:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/05/alleged-former-russian-spy-critically-exposure-unknown-substance/

Colonel Skripal, 66, was a former Russian intelligence agent with the FSB. According to Russian prosecutors, he began working for the United Kingdom's MI6 intelligence agency in the late 1990s, while serving in the Russian Ground Forces. He was reportedly paid a large sum of money for giving away the identities of a number of Russian agents. He is therefore considered a traitor.

He was arrested in December 2004, charged and convicted for the offence of high treason and subsequently sentenced to thirteen years jail. However in 2010 he arrived in the UK as part of a prisoner exchange. Anna Chapman, a Russia-born secret agent who had acquired British citizenship and who was detained by US authorities, was sent back to Russia along with nine other agents. Anna Chapman is being represented by the British press as an insensitive and unconcerned individual. How the press obtained these images just at the right moment for the Skripal story hasn't been divulged.
(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Chapman and https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/686700/Anna-Chapman-Sergei-Skripal-stripped-Maxim-MI6-spy-swap-deal-Salisbury-Prezzo-poison-video )

The way this is being reported immediately raises alarm bells in my mind!

The Salisbury A&E shutdown followed an incident on Sunday in the Maltings shopping centre, where firefighters and police were in attendance CREDIT: SOLENT NEWS

The Telegraph quotes witness Georgia Pridham, 25 as saying, as she walked back from "a hen lunch do" she saw a couple slumped on a bench in the park. 

She describes a man in a jacket and smart trousers strangely staring straight ahead with his palms up to the sky. She says he appeared to be frozen but rocked slowly backwards and forwards.

A woman in a Parka jacket with a hood up and looking grey was slumped on his shoulder, she adds. At first she put this down to them "being on something'. She looked back at him as she walked away. 

The article does not suggest Ms Pridham took any direct action or notified the emergency services although she may have done so. Ms Pridham spoke only to the Telegraph but her account is widely quoted by other papers.

The question always arises how after the event the Telegraph was able to identify and contact Ms Pridham for this first hand account? 

Even if she reported the matter to the police her identity would have been confidential and not released. She certainly would not have been anywhere near the scene for a reporter hours later to 'bump' into her. 

This seems only to leave the possibility that this lady contacted the newspaper unsolicited which I find somewhat unlikely. If none of these, how?

The Telegraph reports they were discovered on Sunday afternoon (5th March, 2018) and subsequently rushed to Salisbury Hospital in an unconscious condition. It apparently then closed its A&E Department for fear of a dangerous contamination. 

Precise times or who notified the emergency services is not provided but the later publication of video suggests they fell ill at about 4.20 pm which seems rather late for a lunch session to end. Of course information with held can be as significant as information given out. Both can involve manipulation.

The fact that a nearby "Zizzy Restaurant" was later closed and subject to forensic examination suggests the couple ate there and it might have been involved in the incident.

https://www.spirefm.co.uk/news/local-news/2520286/police-close-restaurant-in-salisbury-city-centre/

At this site https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/salisbury-russian-spy-skripal-zizzi-14373551 there is video time/date stamped  03-04-2018 Sun15:47 (3:47 pm) (1st March, 2018) that claims to show "two people in the alleyway next to Zizzi" with a clear implication and a passing resemblance to the two victims. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv_qteJ0U5I 

Detectives probing the suspected poisoning of ex-spy Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have obtained an image capturing a couple about half an hour before police were alerted. We are aware of how the appearance of video or its absence can have significance to events of this sort. 

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/salisbury-russian-spy-skripal-zizzi-14373551

How and why did it get into the hands of the Manchester Evening News and presumably other outlets? I have personal knowledge of how impossible it is to view CCTV footage following crime. When incongruity appears, we are justified in posing questions as to its purpose.

I have to say when I first viewed the video the date appeared to be 03-01-2018 but it is now clearly 04. Was I mistaken? I suppose I must have been. The only other explanation is that there was an error that has been subsequently corrected. A comparison between the two videos is worth making, the second incorporates a close-up of the date stamp absent on the former. 

Hollister Co. is an American lifestyle brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co.  In 2008 Piper Jaffray ranked it as the second most preferred clothing brand of US teens on a long list of actual West Coast companies. Hollister has two days remaining of an on line sale here: https://www.hollisterco.com/shop/uk?cmp=PDS:HCO_UK_GGL_BRD_Brand-Variants&source=googleshopping&country=UK&gclid=CjwKCAiAlfnUBRBQEiwAWpPA6fLshwEq9ITXvzyLlOZUKcbniTHpj8uIbvqX9NzBLD1kL3lERHqqeBoCf6cQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds   They employ the slogan "We've gone soft" to sell their products. Of course this is quite unrelated to the incident other than it is very prominent in the interview image below that features a very attractive witness who will be seen by untold millions.

Witness Freya Church who spotted the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/salisbury-russian-spy-skripal-zizzi-14373551  "It looked as if they had taken something quite strong. I just left them." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-43295193/salisbury-russian-spy-incident-eyewitness-describes-couple

Although the Wiltshire and Metropolitan Police have reserved judgement, the prevalent story line and suggestion seems to be that the Russian Secret Service is responsible. For example Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has been quoted as follows: "That we can't allow England to become 'a killing field for the Russian state and its enemies" after a former Russian double agent and a women were found critically ill on a bench. (Ref. Manchester Evening News)

Interestingly the You tube version includes this comment: "A secret group inside British intelligence may have poisoned Sergei Skripal in a plot to 'discredit' Moscow and prevent closer ties between the two countries, Russian paper claims." It is a possibility that cannot be completely excluded.

It is hard not to interpret this event in the context of world events and particularly the protracted anti-Russian propaganda and racketing up of tension. The BBC News reports the matter as "poisoning with an unknown substance" with a statement in the Commons by the Foreign Secretary that appears to prejudge the investigation, promising "swift and robust response." Mmmm - ominous.. 

Only recently the newly appointed Minister Defence, Gavin Williamson stated that Moscow could cause “thousands and thousands and thousands” of deaths in Britain with an attack that would cripple the UK's infrastructure and energy supply.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/25/crippling-russian-attack-britains-infrastructure-could-kill/

This was reinforced by The chief of the general staff, Gen Sir Nicholas Carter, who described Russia as the biggest state-based threat to the UK since the cold war and warned that hostilities could begin a lot sooner than the UK expects.  https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/22/russia-is-biggest-threat-since-cold-war-says-head-of-british-army

Timing and details can often suggest hidden motivations and objectives. Is it coincidental that the victims are aged 66 and 33? Then there is the fact that the first round of of the Russian Presidential elections happens on the 18th March, 2018 that Putin is expected to win. This incident can be expected to cause embarrassment. East Ghouta is given huge prominence as a Russian responsibility whilst Yemen and other areas of Western/Allies aggression is ignored by the BBC and others.

After a series of terrorist events designed to demonise alleged 'Muslim extremists', with the general defeat of ISIS groups largely as a result of Russian intervention, attention has moved to that country as our 'biggest threat'. It is never beyond the realms of possibility that this latest event has been created by agencies other than Russian ones in order to blame it and influence public opinion in favour of increased spending on defence and even military engagement. That seems to be the Government's intention.  

The reported "poisoning" of Skripal and his daughter could help to fulfil this objective and a "False Flag" cannot be ruled out. Russia is quite capable of carrying out assassination on foreign soil as it was heavily suspected of doing to Alexander Litvinenko, killed by Polonium laced tea in November 2006. But this does not mean that other agencies and states might not be responsible. Indeed I have not discussed the chosen poison and method of application in this case that might point to others. Nor at this stage can self application be totally ruled out.


Salisbury Journal

Solstice Park (Google street view) https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=solstice+park+salisbury+images&rlz=1C1ARAB_enGB463GB464&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-gPyWht3ZAhULasAKHU8CD_8Q7AkITQ&biw=1280&bih=893#imgrc=iWvSa84T_0JrUM:

The following from the Independent here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sergei-skripal-poisoning-live-updates-latest-russia-spy-mi6-wiltshire-zizzi-police-investigation-a8241971.html

The Russian Embassy posted a short response to Mr Johnson's address to MPs, saying ironically: "We are impressed by the statement of the Foreign Secretary in Parliament today. The Foreign Secretary spoke in such a manner as if the investigation was already over and Russia was found responsible for what had happened in Salisbury."

The statement continued: "We regret that instead of a proper official clarification on the issue the Foreign Secretary chose to threaten Russia with retribution. Looks like the script of yet another anti-Russian campaign has been already written."

View image on Twitter

Russian Embassy, UK

✔@RussianEmbassy

Is Secretary @BorisJohnson right? Read our comment and judge for yourselfhttps://www.rusemb.org.uk/fnapr/6412 

5:37 PM - Mar 6, 2018

Among the most powerful is VX, a toxin developed at the British Porton Down facility, which was used to assassinate Kim Jong-nam - the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017. The suspect accused of handling the toxic was taken ill with vomiting because of the exposure.

Other nerve agents include sarin, which has similar effects and can lead to death by asphyxia. The chemical weapon has been used in gas form against civilians by regime forces in the ongoing Syrian civil war.

A military research facility is thought to be conducting tests after Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to an unknown substance.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, which has state-of-the-art equipment to look for trace amounts of substances, is believed to be involved in examining what could have caused them to fall ill.

UPDATE: 7.3.2018

Today's BBC One o'clock news (always a good indicator of what the Government wants us to think, or more correctly feel) apart from BREXIT and an entertainment/pop story which are standard fare, we had:-

1. Skripal poisoning story with a dramatic update on-scene before the end
2. A meeting of the 'Cobra' emergency cabinet and empty statement from the Home Secretary including images of the hero MP Tobias Ellwood, now a Minister in the Ministry of Defence, attending with others
3. Item on Russian Government reaction to Skripal and fact that the incident wasn't being reported there
4. the trial of the Parsons Green tube bomber
5. big emotional piece on the policeman Kris Aves who it is said was injured and paralysed in the very suspicious Westminster Bridge attack (in which of course Ellwood starred) and the valiant efforts of volunteers to adapt his home, to which a whole programme has been devoted

All topped off with a nice fluffy story about Red Squirrels and the weather of course. 

This is not news. It is entertainment and mass mind control!

(An examination of these and other 'terrorist' incidents can be seen on this blog using the search facility top left)

Following conversation with FB friend regarding some of the issues - 8.3.2018

How did they identify it was a nerve agent? Because the policeman got I'll?

well even i cud work out that liklihood just from the described signs and symptoms but of course identifying the precise one is much harder. u have to do it from sampling mainly from personal excretion but also possibly environmental samples

not easy and highly technical

What signs would say it was?

unlike radioactive substances and more traditional poisons such arsenic or lead say, nerve agents are much more difficult to detect

well the girl was described as collapsed which cud have been caused by anything - booze or drugs up - but the man had more distinctive symptoms.

he was described as staring into space, unable to talk, hands raised, rocking slightly and later apparently vomiting.

I see

putting all those together it suggests an agent causing catatonia of freezing of muscles and also a suggestion that the agent might have been taken orally - hence the vomiting

or freezing*

now the fact they are saying that a policeman who attended them was also affected raises certain other indicators. It shows that the agent must have been very POTENT and had a residual effect from either their bodies or environment.

Could have been delivered by a spray?

it might be understandable if he came into direct contact with the vomit and the vomit retained some of the agent, but otherwise it must mean that the agent was so potent that even a miniscule contamination was sufficient to cause the symptoms

delivery of the agent to the targets is of course a quite separate matter. Injection is the surest most controllable method if it can be achieved but that seems unlikely in these particular circumstances. ingesting contaminated food or drink wud be another. Again you have to be able to controll this precisely or it has the potential to affect a lot of people and/or miss the targets entirely. Contamination of the skin is sufficient with a tiny droplet with many of these refined substances - perhaps a handshake or a contaminated item of clothing but each has its difficulties. In this this case clearly two, and only two, had to be targetted, although the second might have been a consequence of the first.

Then as you say, aerosol is also possible but as they discovered in the 1stWW when u put dangerous poisons into the air you are never quite sure where they will end up or who they will affect. Substances this powerful if sprayed by someone else are also likely to have affected the person who delivered them not to mention other living things (birds etc) in the vicinity. The fact that none of this appears to have happened suggests the agent was devivered before. Who knows the 'carrier' may have had some time-lapse component to it.

It's all very James bond isn't it. Seems at the moment they failed to kill

Thing is if the released, but highly suspect video image, can be believed, they were well less than half an hour before they fell ill. That wud mean that the agent had to be applied in that window of opportunity. However I'm pretty sure the time/date stamp has been altered since i first viewed it and it may have recorded a different day altogether. If so the purpose may well have been to suggest frame different to the actual one. Who knows with this sort of stuff.

It could have been a type that took hours to take effect? Maybe they were exposed to it someplace else...

What we can say with certainty is that IF nerve agent was used, this must have been a very sophisticated operation to access and deliver that cud only be carried out (95%) by GOVERNMENT agencies. If it was Russia or a client state, it is highly unlikely that our own secret services would not have known about it beforehand as they knew he was a target and his background. Yet again this is a suspicious breakdown in our own security but this is never referred to. Of course if in fact we or one of our allies was behind it, thet would be a quite different scenario.

i think i'll copy this conversation and add it to the article if you dont mind. i can remove yur name if u want me to?