Sergei Skripal: ‘Forthwith’ gave MI6 telephone directory of Russian agents
Sergei Skripal: ‘Forthwith’ gave MI6 telephone directory of Russian agents
2TwinMarch 10 2018, 12:01am,
Experts wearing protective suits were drafted in to Salisbury as the investigation continued. Areas of interest were the graves of Sergei Skripal’s wife and son, which may have been visited by him on SundayINS NEWS AGENCY
Sergei Skripal was a highly paid, highly valued MI6 spy codenamed “Forthwith” who provided important material to British intelligence over a ten-year period, including the entire telephone directory of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, The Times has learnt.
As investigations continue into the poisoning of Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter in Salisbury on Sunday, this newspaper has been able to build a picture of his recruitment and work as a double agent for MI6.
Mr Skripal during his time with the Russian military
He was spotted as a potential recruit by the Spanish intelligence service but run by UK intelligence as it was believed he would respond better to British handling. Stationed in Spain as a GRU officer, Mr Skripal was approached around July 1995 by an MI6 officer posing as a commercial Spanish business partner, intelligence sources said. Initially Mr Skripal had no idea, or gave the impression he was unaware, that the man was a representative of British intelligence. The Russian, then 44, was the first to reveal that he was an officer of the GRU, which the operative already knew, but maintained his cover by suggesting this would be useful for commercial reasons.
He was diagnosed with diabetes soon after and returned to Moscow but he frequently visited Spain to recuperate, and the contact with MI6 gradually expanded until he was being run by a fulltime case officer. Mr Skripal retired from the GRU in 2000 but through a former army colleague he obtained a job in the Moscow provincial government and continued to provide useful information, it is understood.
MI6 bought him a timeshare holiday home near Malaga, and the case officer would fly out for meetings over three days, with sessions lasting three or four hours. After each meeting, Mr Skripal would be paid between $5,000 and $6,000 in cash, which he deposited in a Spanish bank account.
Intelligence sources said that although Mr Skripal’s initial motivation was financial, the personal element became more important and he became increasingly interested in Britain. MI6 was careful not to bring him to the UK, however, to avoid giving away any link between “Forthwith” (meaning without delay) and the service running him.
On one occasion Mr Skripal called an emergency meeting in Spain and demanded $10,000 in cash. An officer flew out with the money the following day.
Intelligence sources believe Russia may be specifically targeting double agents resident in Britain because of MI6’s success in recruiting Russian spies since the collapse of communism. There are believed to be at least a dozen more former MI6 agents living in the UK. Their names are unknown to the public, but may well be known to President Putin as a former high-ranking intelligence officer.
Mr Skripal did not expose large numbers of “illegals”, Russian spies working undercover in the West, it is understood, but he was able to furnish precise information on the structure and personnel in Russian military intelligence, including the identities of hundreds of Russian intelligence officers.
That information was shared with MI5 and selected allies, including the CIA, undermining a key sector of Russian intelligence at the very moment Mr Putin was rising up the ranks.
Long after his retirement from the GRU, Mr Skripal continued to meet his former colleagues in Russian intelligence and pass on the information he gathered to his case officer at meetings in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. He was finally exposed as a double agent after an officer in the Spanish security service learnt of Mr Skripal’s activities and passed the information back to Moscow. He was arrested in 2004. The Spanish mole was subsequently tried and convicted in Spain. MI6 first knew that the “Forthwith” case had been blown when Mr Skripal failed to turn up for a meeting in Spain that year.
On at least one occasion when he was unwell with diabetes, Mr Skripal’s Russian wife, Liudmila, would travel to Spain to collect his payments, alerting London to a meeting by calling a dedicated telephone number. Mrs Skripal was not involved in espionage and was unaware that it came from MI6, believing it was part of a commercial transaction. The case was run in conjunction with the Spanish intelligence service.
After he was swapped with a group of Russian “sleeper” agents at Vienna airport, Mr Skripal was flown to a secret debriefing centre on the south coast of England. He continued to meet British intelligence after settling in Britain and continued to provide expertise in the methods and structure of Russian espionage operations.
Mr Skripal was first approached during the Yeltsin years when Russian government money was in short supply, and Russian intelligence officers stationed abroad frequently went unpaid for long periods. He was described as “someone who was always looking for a bit of business on the side”. MI6 sources stressed, however, that as an agent Mr Skripal was highly efficient and one of the most productive spies of the post-Cold War period. His value during that time will form part of investigations into who may have wanted to assassinate him and his daughter.
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Sergei Skripal: ‘Forthwith’ gave MI6 telephone directory of Russian agents
2TwinMarch 10 2018, 12:01am,
Experts wearing protective suits were drafted in to Salisbury as the investigation continued. Areas of interest were the graves of Sergei Skripal’s wife and son, which may have been visited by him on SundayINS NEWS AGENCY
Sergei Skripal was a highly paid, highly valued MI6 spy codenamed “Forthwith” who provided important material to British intelligence over a ten-year period, including the entire telephone directory of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, The Times has learnt.
As investigations continue into the poisoning of Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter in Salisbury on Sunday, this newspaper has been able to build a picture of his recruitment and work as a double agent for MI6.
Mr Skripal during his time with the Russian military
He was spotted as a potential recruit by the Spanish intelligence service but run by UK intelligence as it was believed he would respond better to British handling. Stationed in Spain as a GRU officer, Mr Skripal was approached around July 1995 by an MI6 officer posing as a commercial Spanish business partner, intelligence sources said. Initially Mr Skripal had no idea, or gave the impression he was unaware, that the man was a representative of British intelligence. The Russian, then 44, was the first to reveal that he was an officer of the GRU, which the operative already knew, but maintained his cover by suggesting this would be useful for commercial reasons.
He was diagnosed with diabetes soon after and returned to Moscow but he frequently visited Spain to recuperate, and the contact with MI6 gradually expanded until he was being run by a fulltime case officer. Mr Skripal retired from the GRU in 2000 but through a former army colleague he obtained a job in the Moscow provincial government and continued to provide useful information, it is understood.
MI6 bought him a timeshare holiday home near Malaga, and the case officer would fly out for meetings over three days, with sessions lasting three or four hours. After each meeting, Mr Skripal would be paid between $5,000 and $6,000 in cash, which he deposited in a Spanish bank account.
Intelligence sources said that although Mr Skripal’s initial motivation was financial, the personal element became more important and he became increasingly interested in Britain. MI6 was careful not to bring him to the UK, however, to avoid giving away any link between “Forthwith” (meaning without delay) and the service running him.
On one occasion Mr Skripal called an emergency meeting in Spain and demanded $10,000 in cash. An officer flew out with the money the following day.
Intelligence sources believe Russia may be specifically targeting double agents resident in Britain because of MI6’s success in recruiting Russian spies since the collapse of communism. There are believed to be at least a dozen more former MI6 agents living in the UK. Their names are unknown to the public, but may well be known to President Putin as a former high-ranking intelligence officer.
Mr Skripal did not expose large numbers of “illegals”, Russian spies working undercover in the West, it is understood, but he was able to furnish precise information on the structure and personnel in Russian military intelligence, including the identities of hundreds of Russian intelligence officers.
That information was shared with MI5 and selected allies, including the CIA, undermining a key sector of Russian intelligence at the very moment Mr Putin was rising up the ranks.
Long after his retirement from the GRU, Mr Skripal continued to meet his former colleagues in Russian intelligence and pass on the information he gathered to his case officer at meetings in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. He was finally exposed as a double agent after an officer in the Spanish security service learnt of Mr Skripal’s activities and passed the information back to Moscow. He was arrested in 2004. The Spanish mole was subsequently tried and convicted in Spain. MI6 first knew that the “Forthwith” case had been blown when Mr Skripal failed to turn up for a meeting in Spain that year.
On at least one occasion when he was unwell with diabetes, Mr Skripal’s Russian wife, Liudmila, would travel to Spain to collect his payments, alerting London to a meeting by calling a dedicated telephone number. Mrs Skripal was not involved in espionage and was unaware that it came from MI6, believing it was part of a commercial transaction. The case was run in conjunction with the Spanish intelligence service.
After he was swapped with a group of Russian “sleeper” agents at Vienna airport, Mr Skripal was flown to a secret debriefing centre on the south coast of England. He continued to meet British intelligence after settling in Britain and continued to provide expertise in the methods and structure of Russian espionage operations.
Mr Skripal was first approached during the Yeltsin years when Russian government money was in short supply, and Russian intelligence officers stationed abroad frequently went unpaid for long periods. He was described as “someone who was always looking for a bit of business on the side”. MI6 sources stressed, however, that as an agent Mr Skripal was highly efficient and one of the most productive spies of the post-Cold War period. His value during that time will form part of investigations into who may have wanted to assassinate him and his daughter.
You are logged in as a registered user