Recent Russian Intelligence Operations

[davidbfpo]

This incident, now classed officially as Attempted Murder(s) is the lead item in the UK news. Amidst the media furore, with a good dose of speculation and some inspired "leaks" there are a couple of significant items. No, not the official statements by politicians.

Irony too, amidst a commentary by an ex-Army intelligence person and lightly edited:

It was the British in1954 who first synthesized VX.

Link:http://greyharemedia.com/sergei-skripal-assassination/

The impact of this will be magnified as this has now been reported by the local police, with my emphasis:

he police officer left seriously ill after he was caught up in the Salisbury nerve agent attack was named as DS Nick Bailey as Wiltshire Police said that 21 people have now been treated as a result of the incident.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/08/russian-spy-condition-of-police-officer-who-helped-sergei-skripal-improves?

[Azor]

The impact of this will be magnified as this has now been reported by the local police, with my emphasis: Wiltshire Police said that 21 people have now been treated as a result of the incident.

It is an act of state terrorism and an act of war. I would be impressed if the U.K. did the following:

• Suspended diplomatic relations with Russia
• Recalled all British diplomats from Russia and expelled Russian diplomats from the U.K.
• Instituted a travel warning for British nationals travelling to Russia
• Invoked Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty
• Placed military forces on higher alert, including perhaps its SSBN force
• Banned Russian nationals from entering the U.K.
• Imposed financial/economic sanctions

But who am I kidding? The "Halifax Brigade" is in charge of the Conservative Party and Labour admires the "Axis of Revolution".

[Azor]

Selected Excerpts:

Britain deployed specialist troops on Friday to remove potentially contaminated objects from the English city where a Russian former double agent and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. About 180 troops including some with chemical expertise have been sent to the city to remove ambulances and other vehicles involved in the incident and other objects, Britain’s ministry of defense and police said...

Health chiefs have said there is a low risk to the wider public from the nerve agent used against the Skripals, who police said were deliberately targeted with the rare toxin. They said experts had identified the substance, which will help determine the source, but did not name it publicly...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Britain’s warnings of retaliation were propaganda and not serious.

[davidbfpo]

Slowly the attack is getting clearer and may no longer have been a public event - rather than the Skripal pair were poisoned in their private house:

Asked if there were any leads in the case, Lord Blair told the Today Programme on Radio 4: “There are some indications that the police officer who was injured had been to the house, whereas there was a doctor who looked after the patients in the open, who hasn’t been affected at all. So there maybe some clues floating around in here."

Link:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...olice-believe/

Lord Blair being a former Met Police Commissioner till 2008 and one assumes he was able to network to come out with this.

[Azor]

Breaking

Prime Minister May:

If Russia doesn't respond satisfactorily, then the government will consider attack "unlawful use of force" against UK.

For context

Defence Secretary Williamson:

Russia's being assertive, Russia's being more aggressive, and we have to change the way that we deal with it because we can't be in a situation in these areas of conflict where we are being pushed around by another nation.

Foreign Secretary Johnson:

But if, and it's still a big if, it turns out this is the agency of another state attempting to kill people on UK soil then of course the UK will respond robustly.

Home Secretary Rudd:

There will come a time for attribution and there will be, then, consequences and there will be further information that follows...The use of a nerve agent on UK soil is a brazen and reckless act. This was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. People are right to want to know who to hold to account. We are committed to doing all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice - whoever they are and wherever they may be.

Member of Parliament Chris Tugendhat:

The first duty of government is to protect the British people - I think using nerve agents on British streets really does demand a response.

[Azor]

It is now clear that Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia...The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal...Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom, and I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures we will take in response...We shall not tolerate such a brazen act to murder innocent civilians on our soil.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/w...poisoning.html

[davidbfpo]

Dan Lomas, a UK academic, adds some context to the allegations and attempted murders. He makes two points near the end:

Like Mossad’s suspected attacks on nuclear scientists, Litvinenko’s murder and the horrific attacks on other Russian dissidents are designed with one purpose: to instil fear in dissidents, opposition leaders and (like Skripal) former spies – and indeed, anyone potentially inspired by their behaviour. The message is clear: “Desist, or else.”
Whether Russia is involved in this latest incident or not, it should surprise no one that countries regularly use killing as a way to intimidate and pursue foreign policy goals. What remains to be seen in this case is how the British government will respond.

Link:https://theconversation.com/sergei-skripal-and-the-long-history-of-assassination-attempts-abroad-93021?