Skripal’s Cellmates Share Stories From Prison Days With Now Famous Double-Agent at Heart of Scandal
Certain details of the prison life of Sergey Skripal surfaced today. He was convicted of espionage and spent several years in a Mordovian prison. This is what his prison mates told about him.
A special correspondent Yulia Shustraya visited the closed press conference in "Matrosskaya Tishina".
For 4 years, these people were the closest to Sergei Skripal. Those few with whom he communicated in the colony decided to express their opinion about him and what they had learned about him.
Konstantin Lapin, ex-prisoner: "When a person is in an enclosed space, indoors he begins to have some problems. For example, there were phrases that he is a drug addict. When collecting information, I found out that he was not against sexual acts with minors".
Konstantin used to be head of the 4th FSB Directorate for the Leningrad Region. In prison, he became sort of a "housekeeping manager". Craftiness and practicality of Skripal immediately caught his eyes. For example, Sergey wasn't going to be engaged in household works. He bought off with cigarettes, benefitting from a plentiful supply.
Konstantin Lapin:"There was a specific fee — 5 packs of cigarettes per unit. If he brought me 5 packs of cigarettes, I put in a note that Skripal completed all the chores for the month.
- So you could buy off?
- Yes. And I give these 5 packs of cigarettes to those people who will do this work for him".
Skripal was very picky when selecting his circle of communication and not for former ties or authority — he was guided by some of his personal considerations. One of these people was an ex-head of the criminal investigation department in Rostov, Andrey Sychev.
Andrey Sychev: "In a unit consisting of over 100 people, there was a maximum of 5 people with whom you can sit and drink tea".
Andrey recalls that Skripal kept to himself, he didn't humiliate anyone either, but people were afraid to approach him. Sergey always read or wrote something. He was not very friendly, but by 2010, his mood became much better and probably with good reason.
Andrey Sychev: One day he said — soon I will be home. It will happen very soon. That's what he said. You know, a man of his level can't be a blabber. He can't walk and tell everyone everything. Then he wouldn't be who he is.
- What conclusions did you make for yourself after his words?
- I concluded that the current owners didn't abandon him.
Sergey Skripal was not deceived in his expectations and soon changed his prison in Mordovia to a cozy house in British Salisbury. And for those with whom he was in prison, he remained a sort of brainteaser. What's true about him, and what isn't, no one knows still knows.
Julia Shustraya, Ilya Kuzmin, Artem Kuznetsov — Vesti