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Yeah, that's the TV line. This guy lived quietly in the UK and had no "Putin's beans" to spill. He did blow cover of several hundred Russian agents, but he did

Yeah, that's the TV line. This guy lived quietly in the UK and had no "Putin's beans" to spill. He did blow cover of several hundred Russian agents, but he did time for that in Russia and then he was exchanged. It is possible it was a long-delayed payback from the GRU, but, again, there is no reason for it to be made that publicly. He could've choked on a pound coin and everyone who needed to know would've gotten the message. But the way it stands, the only discernible message here is "don't do any more spy exchanges with Russia".

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> that's the TV line As well as the well-substantiated conclusion of several international investigations. Same reasoning for Litvinenko’s polonium tea and North Korea’s nerve agent assassination.
- huhtenberg 8y ago
  That reasoning in this context doesn't make any sense. That's the problem.
  - foldr 8y ago
    Ok then. Who else had the motivation to ostentatiously kill him using a weapon only available to state actors?
    - huhtenberg 8y ago
      Another state actor? Though in the light of [1] it'd seem far less probable. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17987031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17987031
      - foldr 8y ago
        Indeed. Russia is the only plausible candidate.
r721 8y ago
>Sergei V. Skripal, the former Russian spy poisoned in Britain with a powerful nerve agent, appears to have been working in recent years with intelligence officers in Spain, a country locked in a pitched battle with Russian organized crime groups, some with ties to the Russian government. >Rather than merely living an isolated life in retirement, Mr. Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, continued to provide briefings to spies in the Czech Republic and Estonia, according to European officials. Now, it appears he was also active in Spain. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/europe/skripal-poison-russia-spy-spain.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/europe/skripal-pois...
- huhtenberg 8y ago
  How interesting. This definitely puts things in a different perspective.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> that's the TV line As well as the well-substantiated conclusion of several international investigations. Same reasoning for Litvinenko’s polonium tea and North Korea’s nerve agent assassination.

huhtenberg 8y ago
That reasoning in this context doesn't make any sense. That's the problem.
- foldr 8y ago
  Ok then. Who else had the motivation to ostentatiously kill him using a weapon only available to state actors?
  - huhtenberg 8y ago
    Another state actor? Though in the light of [1] it'd seem far less probable. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17987031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17987031
    - foldr 8y ago
      Indeed. Russia is the only plausible candidate.

r721 8y ago

>Sergei V. Skripal, the former Russian spy poisoned in Britain with a powerful nerve agent, appears to have been working in recent years with intelligence officers in Spain, a country locked in a pitched battle with Russian organized crime groups, some with ties to the Russian government. >Rather than merely living an isolated life in retirement, Mr. Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, continued to provide briefings to spies in the Czech Republic and Estonia, according to European officials. Now, it appears he was also active in Spain. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/europe/skripal-poison-russia-spy-spain.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/europe/skripal-pois...

huhtenberg 8y ago
How interesting. This definitely puts things in a different perspective.