Is there a thread about the poisoning of Skripal? [title edited by MNHQ]

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I've not seen a thread about it at all, but surely there must be?

"Ultimately you will never recruit spies unless they believe they are going to be protected and spy swaps will never happen unless they are granted safety thereafter."

Exactly, so a murder of someone that the domestic audience already knows is a swopped spy would be a clear way of demonstrating a threat to deter potential future traitors, or to persuade current ones to desist. Murdering a previously unknown Russian wouldn't have the same resonance.

But until we know who the likely perpetrators are, it's all just speculation.

What an interesting discussion.
I know Salisbury well and just wanted to point out the press have exaggerated the “shopping centre” aspect of the location.

The Maltings is around 12 shops and on one side is the river Avon and the other is a children’s park and then the main city car park.

A “shopping centre” is a very odd and inaccurate description for the press to use.

Actaully I’ve just realised The Maltings probably includes a massive Sainsbury’s, so if you looked on a map it would look really large, so the description is not exaggerated. So ignore me

I said to some friends the day it happened that it could have been America who did it. Especially if he was about to spill secrets concerning the Trump Russian dossier thing.

It seems that as Patriarchy says, one of the reasons the Russians are suspected is because of the type of nerve agent used. Every biochemical weapon has specific markers in their chemical/biological structure that can pinpoint where it was created down often to the very lab.

While we can speculate that so and so country did it, or so and so did it, it's not sensible to throw out the most obvious option. One thing the government usually take care to do is to not speculate - we can see this in the recent huge hackings that have taken place and when working out where to lay blame for the sarin attacks in Syria. They would know that getting this wrong would have huge international consequences.

Mrsjosh I was wondering, since he apparently had a link to the trump dossier guy on his linkedin as reported in the telegraph. Bit odd to list your spy network on LinkedIn, but it would be handy for the Americans to be able to bump him off and make it look exactly like a Russian attack. Or indeed collude together. But then the dossier is out there already for public consumption, no one in the US seems too bothered by the fact that the president colluded and has dodgy dealings with Russia, of course it’s probaly fake news because Trump said so.

Not adding much to this but I did have to help provide a tiny piece of information for the police this week relating to this. It might help them work out who was in the area and I feel like someone from spooks!

No one likes a show off.

;)

For those posters speculating it was the US or even the UK who have done this, you have to think about it in terms of risk Vs reward.

There aren't many first world nations whose governments could survive (politically) if it ever came out that they had tried to murder someone in a crowded shopping centre with a legally proscribed chemical weapon.

The UK and the US are not on that list. Russia, NK, maybe Israel, Iran, a few others maybe but you get my point.

With the information we have, there is only really one suspect in this, particularly now they have ruled out G and V series nerve agents in a press statement, which means it was something more advanced. There just aren't that many places in the world with that capability.

This is straight out of the Russia playbook and something we know they have done in the past with Alexander Litvinyenko.

Bearing in mind Putin was a Colonel in the KGB Foreign Intelligence department for years which later became the SVR (Counter - Intelligence Dept)

My question now is how did the SVR agents who did this get away? I suppose we won't be able to speculate on that until we find out what the delivery mechanism for the agent was.

Good coverage in Radio 4 World At One today. Includes clarification that the ooliceman was not a first responder, as previously thought, and it's now thought that he was contaminated elsewhere. Also, the reports that 20-odd others were treated in hospital is not true. The hospital says only the Russian couple and the policeman were treated.

And a fascinating piece on the 14 highly suspicious deaths in the UK in recent years of people from Russia/with Russian connections.

Available now on catchup/iPlayer

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tc4xr

Thanks Bore!

you guys are way too nice to me, I've just noticed how badly I managed to mangle Skripals name on the thread title. I have no idea what happened

We were all talking about you behind your back but didn't like to say

So maybe the message about 21 people being treated did come from people being treated prophylactically with antidotes. Or it was plain wrong!

Stealth, I thought so!

I agree this is very strange...and nobody really knows what is going on. I live a mile away and have just been into town for my weekly shop...strangely enough there was plenty of space in the central car park and Sainsburys was deserted...except for the gawkers on the balcony. It is most odd seeing our small, sleepy city on the world stage

It must feel very odd Barbara. How do people you've spoken to feel about the very weird spot light placed on your town?

I started a thread a few days ago. I live in Salisbury. I was there on the Sunday too!

This is all very weird and I feel we are being told about 4% of the actual story here. A bit like shining a small torch into a huge dark murky cave. Thing I can’t understand is why the perpetrator chose this method- it’s messy, incriminating, inefficient and very attention seeking. Have everything crossed for the skirpals and that poor policeman. I think I heard on world at 1 that he is out of intensive care? Hoping I didn’t mishear.

Here's what we know so far.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey was in intensive care, but is now stable but serious. He is talking, but not out of the woods yet.

Detective Sergeants don't walk about Salisbury very often. We don't even get normal Police about.

So the information that he was the first responder is odd.

The first on the scene were an off duty doctor and nurse, and members of the public. They all helped them into recovery positions, got them breathing again etc. Amazing.

They found out very quickly who Sergei was, or already knew. Because they sectioned off his house pretty quickly. Maybe DS Bailey went to his house? Maybe they were poisoned there?

They have sectioned off his house, his car, the graveyard (where his wife and son are buried), the restaurant and the pub. His journey on Sunday basically.

The 21 treated, are the paramedics, police, and members of the public who came into contact with them, and had a range of advice and treatment (blood tests) etc.

Where DS Bailey was will be key to working out where the poison came from, how it was issued.

plenty of space in the central car park , that may be the scariest thing about the whole incident.

I thought I read that the Detective Sergeant was not first on the scene.

They’ve announced contamination took place in the house.

Whatis..
Exactly right , it is puzzling that the stories in the press and what we have seen for ourselves seem to be at odds.