Spy Scandal: Former GRU Officer Mole Collapses in Mall; British Authorities Declare State of Emergency
A spy has been hospitalized. The British press is actively promoting the story about the former GRU officer Sergey Skripal, who used to work for British intelligence and has been an ordinary pensioner for almost 10 years. He and his companion felt sick at a mall. The authorities decided to involve troops specializing in CBRN defense, and even declared a state of emergency.
Elena Balaeva will tell us more.
The scandal with the poisoning of the former GRU officer Sergey Skripal in Britain is huge. At this point in time, we don't know much about what happened. A man and a woman felt bad at a mall, so they sat down on a bench. After that, the police and an ambulance were called, and they were taken to the hospital.
We still don't know why the police came up with the idea that they were poisoned, and that it's not food poisoning from having eaten some expired food or something. The police aren't saying anything about this. But for some reason, the police think that they were poisoned with an unknown substance. After that, specialists were involved. Throughout the part of the city where the poisoning is alleged to have taken place, fully equipped specialists disinfected not only the mall where Sergey Skripal and his companion felt bad, but also alleys, streets, and benches throughout parts of the city.
Apart from this, fully equipped specialists disinfected the hospital and the emergency room where Sergey Skripal was taken to. By the way, according to the police, the hospital is open to the public. As I've already said, this topic is being actively covered in the British media. But, at the same time, I can say that Sergey Skripal's name wasn't known here in Britain. I'll remind you that Sergey Skripal was arrested in Russia back in 2004. He was accused of cooperating with British intelligence. In 2010, he and scientist Igor Sutyagin were accused of being a group of spies operating in Russia. Since then, Sergey Skripach is said to have been living in Britain. But, as I've already said, he's never been of interest to the British media. Regular Britons know nothing about him, for example, in contrast to Igor Sutyagin, who often makes some statements and comments in the news, including on the BBC, Sergey Skripal has, in fact, lived here as an ordinary senior citizen.
We can only guess why this topic is so popular in the British media. But we can predict that in the coming week, it'll be widely discussed here, and his name will become as famous as Alexander Litvinenko's. The British media is likely to compare this incident to that case.
Elena Balaeva, Vesti, London.