LONDON: Who could be behind the suspected poisoning of former Russian undercover agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter?
Some experts and opposition voices have pointed the finger at Russia. Others dismiss the notion as ridiculous.
"Attacking the family, and someone involved in a swap, is a first," Bruce Jones, a Russia expert with British defence newsletter Jane's Defence Weekly, instructed AFP.
Jones mentioned there could be more than one "dividends" for Russia from such an assault as it could be "a warning to anybody who might consider being a traitor".
Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, was once jailed in his country for betraying agents to Britain's MI6 secret provider.
He moved to Britain in a 2010 undercover agent switch and is now hospitalised in vital situation along with his daughter Yulia after they collapsed within the English town of Salisbury.
For Kremlin fighters, the who and the why are glaring.
"Poisoning is the method of choice for the FSB," Russia's safety provider, mentioned Yuri Felshtinksy, a friend of Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB agent who was once poisoned with a radioactive agent in London in 2006.
A British inquiry into Litvinenko's killing by tea laced with polonium concluded that it was once "probably" approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin -- himself a former KGB officer.
Felshtinsky mentioned the Salisbury incident will have to be seen within the context of Russia's presidential election on March 18, through which Putin is operating virtually unchallenged.
"This has all the hallmarks of a Putin assassination. He is warning anyone in the FSB never to defect, as they'll be hunted down and killed," Felshtinsky mentioned in a commentary revealed within the British media.
Bill Browder, a former investor in Russia who fell out with the authorities and is now a number one Putin critic, mentioned: "Putin does this for demonstration effect."
Browder has led a marketing campaign in memory of his former worker Sergei Magnitsky, who went public with details of massive fraud by Russian officials prior to death in detention after spending 11 months in jail in 2009.
Putin "needs to keep everybody absolutely terrified of him," Browder mentioned.
"He doesn't have to kill everybody, he just has to kill a few people and make it so clear that terrible things will come to you if you cross Putin."
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned on Tuesday the federal government would reply "robustly" if the poisoning turned out to be the paintings of a international state.
That may have been simply the kind of response Moscow sought after.
"If there is criticism or sanctions against Russia, that can be leveraged and manipulated by the Kremlin," mentioned Jones.
"If they can provoke a reaction in the UK, it can be used and capitalised upon to prove that Russia is a tragic victim of fate."
Asked why Britain will have to be chosen because the scene for such a killing, Jones mentioned the country was once in "a vulnerable position" as a result of doubts about Prime Minister Theresa May's leadership and the subtle Brexit negotiations.
Browder mentioned the loss of a strong British response to Litvinenko's killing was once additionally an element.
"In 2016, when it was determined that this was an organised hit from Russia and it was determined by a High Court judge, the government did absolutely nothing," he mentioned.
"That inaction invites Putin to kill people in this country."
In Russia too, experts similar to Pavel Felgenhauer, an analyst for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, see Moscow's hand within the poisoning.
"I have no doubt that this was carried out on the orders of Moscow since there are no other parties who could have an interest," he instructed AFP.
"It is in the traditions of the FSB. They have always thought and they still think that you have to punish traitors to keep discipline in the security services."
But others, like former Soviet undercover agent and writer Mikhail Lyubimov, have pushed aside this principle.
"It is just a comedy," he mentioned.
"Who is Skripal? Who cares about him? He was already swapped, meaning he was amnestied. If we wanted to kill him, we would have killed him here, but we freed him".
Alexander Golts, a Russian military analyst, instructed AFP: "We should not forget that people like Skripal have an adventurous character and nobody knows what kind of adventure he could have got himself into in Britain."
Some experts and opposition voices have pointed the finger at Russia. Others dismiss the notion as ridiculous.
"Attacking the family, and someone involved in a swap, is a first," Bruce Jones, a Russia expert with British defence newsletter Jane's Defence Weekly, instructed AFP.
Jones mentioned there could be more than one "dividends" for Russia from such an assault as it could be "a warning to anybody who might consider being a traitor".
Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, was once jailed in his country for betraying agents to Britain's MI6 secret provider.
He moved to Britain in a 2010 undercover agent switch and is now hospitalised in vital situation along with his daughter Yulia after they collapsed within the English town of Salisbury.
For Kremlin fighters, the who and the why are glaring.
"Poisoning is the method of choice for the FSB," Russia's safety provider, mentioned Yuri Felshtinksy, a friend of Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB agent who was once poisoned with a radioactive agent in London in 2006.
A British inquiry into Litvinenko's killing by tea laced with polonium concluded that it was once "probably" approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin -- himself a former KGB officer.
Felshtinsky mentioned the Salisbury incident will have to be seen within the context of Russia's presidential election on March 18, through which Putin is operating virtually unchallenged.
"This has all the hallmarks of a Putin assassination. He is warning anyone in the FSB never to defect, as they'll be hunted down and killed," Felshtinsky mentioned in a commentary revealed within the British media.
Bill Browder, a former investor in Russia who fell out with the authorities and is now a number one Putin critic, mentioned: "Putin does this for demonstration effect."
Browder has led a marketing campaign in memory of his former worker Sergei Magnitsky, who went public with details of massive fraud by Russian officials prior to death in detention after spending 11 months in jail in 2009.
Putin "needs to keep everybody absolutely terrified of him," Browder mentioned.
"He doesn't have to kill everybody, he just has to kill a few people and make it so clear that terrible things will come to you if you cross Putin."
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned on Tuesday the federal government would reply "robustly" if the poisoning turned out to be the paintings of a international state.
That may have been simply the kind of response Moscow sought after.
"If there is criticism or sanctions against Russia, that can be leveraged and manipulated by the Kremlin," mentioned Jones.
"If they can provoke a reaction in the UK, it can be used and capitalised upon to prove that Russia is a tragic victim of fate."
Asked why Britain will have to be chosen because the scene for such a killing, Jones mentioned the country was once in "a vulnerable position" as a result of doubts about Prime Minister Theresa May's leadership and the subtle Brexit negotiations.
Browder mentioned the loss of a strong British response to Litvinenko's killing was once additionally an element.
"In 2016, when it was determined that this was an organised hit from Russia and it was determined by a High Court judge, the government did absolutely nothing," he mentioned.
"That inaction invites Putin to kill people in this country."
In Russia too, experts similar to Pavel Felgenhauer, an analyst for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, see Moscow's hand within the poisoning.
"I have no doubt that this was carried out on the orders of Moscow since there are no other parties who could have an interest," he instructed AFP.
"It is in the traditions of the FSB. They have always thought and they still think that you have to punish traitors to keep discipline in the security services."
But others, like former Soviet undercover agent and writer Mikhail Lyubimov, have pushed aside this principle.
"It is just a comedy," he mentioned.
"Who is Skripal? Who cares about him? He was already swapped, meaning he was amnestied. If we wanted to kill him, we would have killed him here, but we freed him".
Alexander Golts, a Russian military analyst, instructed AFP: "We should not forget that people like Skripal have an adventurous character and nobody knows what kind of adventure he could have got himself into in Britain."
Spy poisoning in Britain: Who stands to gain?
![Spy poisoning in Britain: Who stands to gain?]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
March 08, 2018
Rating:
