The UK Witch Hunt Continues - Russian Businessmen Flee London, Fearing for Their Lives
The European Union is not preparing new measures against Russia in light of the Skripal case. Several EU heads of state announced this before the EU summit in Brussels, where Theresa May will seek to gain support for the British version of the incident. Since the attempted murder took place 18 days ago in Salisbury, neither Europe nor Russia has received any facts. All of Scotland Yard's information on the suspicious deaths of other famous Russians, from Litvinenko to Glushkov, remains classified in Britain. Runaway Russian businessmen, who have been hiding in London, have already begun to change their addresses.
Alexander Khabarov found out who was intimidating them.
Russian Ambassador to London Alexander Yakovenko held a press conference for British journalists. He commented on a statement made by Boris Johnson, the British Foreign Secretary, who had compared the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia to the Olympics in Nazi Germany.
Alexander Yakovenko: "Moscow considers this kind of statement, which was made by a Foreign Secretary, completely unacceptable and totally irresponsible. Nobody has the right to insult the Russian people, who defeated Nazism, by comparing our country to Nazi Germany. That goes beyond common sense, we don't think British war veterans, including those who partook in the Arctic convoys, would share this opinion".
The reporters were interested not only in Moscow's official position, but also the Russian embassy's tweets.
- On Sunday the embassy tweeted: "We definitely need Poirot in Salisbury". Did you like it? My question to you is if you are kidding. Are you taking this seriously?
Alexander Yakovenko: Of course, the message was very simple, we have no information, the investigation is classified, and we do not understand the British government's rationale. Given that the case is so complicated, we need a very wise person like Poirot to conduct the investigation. That's the message, there's nothing more to it.
Yakovenko recalled that the British Parliament had recently proposed to carry out cyberattacks against Russia. The British press continues to fuel anti-Russian sentiments.
- Russian businessmen living in London are increasingly often saying to the media that they're being threatened, claiming they're afraid of provocations. How would you comment on it?
Alexander Yakovenko: The Russian citizens, I mean the businessmen, have contacted us about this issue. They have faced a number of restrictions here in Great Britain. They're puzzled, some of them are very scared.
Yekaterinburg businessman Sergei Kapchuk, who has received political asylum in the UK, first hired bodyguards, and then decided to leave London altogether. Now he's hiding somewhere in Europe. A red flag for him was when he was offered to make an interview with the British TV channel Sky News.
Sergei Kapchuk, entrepreneur: "They wrote that they knew I was next, I was on the list, they needed my comment urgently, before I was dead, so to speak. First, they asked, then they demanded, made an ultimatum, something like "Record an address to Putin. You see what the Russians are doing. We sheltered you, saved you, and now it's your turn".
Kapchuk says his bank accounts were blocked after he fled London. He is afraid for his life and wants to return to Russia.
Sergei Kapchuk: "I believe that they've made me a target. Now they're preparing a provocation to accuse Russia of the whole bag of tricks".
Valery Morozov, entrepreneur: "It was written in Russian, but there was a mistake in my name. "They got Sergei, now they'll come for you".
Another political refugee, entrepreneur Valery Morozov received threatening letters a week after the poisoning of Skripal. But he does not think the two events are connected. He talked to the ex-colonel only once when met him in a Russian shop.
Valery Morozov: "He said that he lived in Salisbury, that his name was Sergei Skripal. He even gave me his phone number. He said he used to work at the Foreign Ministry, but became a businessman".
Theresa May, British PM, tried to poison the EU summit in Brussels with a scandalous story. She proposed to postpone Brexit discussions for a while to discuss the Skripal case.
Theresa May: "I will speak today not only about what happened in Salisbury but also about the Russian pattern of behavior, which consists of aggressive actions against Europe and its closest neighbors. It refers to countries from the Western Balkans to the Middle East".
But the European partners wondered what was new in what she could convey.
Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg's PM: "We should listen to Theresa May first. We should show our solidarity with Britain to find out the truth and find the culprits. But arguments should come first".
Before the summit, British newspapers wrote that London would seek the expulsion of Russian diplomats from other European countries.
On what grounds? That's unclear. Besides, Europe is getting tired of accusations without evidence and expects Britain to concentrate on investigating the scandalous crime.
Alexander Khabarov, Ilya Mordyukov for Vesti from London.