Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal’s MI6 ‘handler’ had ties to Alexander Litvinenko
STRICKEN Russian spy Sergei Skripal’s MI6 handler had ties to nuked spook Alexander Litvinenko.
The British intelligence officer, who cannot be named for his own safety, was the “Englishman in the tweed suit” who often met Skripal in Salisbury’s Cote Brasserie.
Skripal, 66, was first recruited as a British asset alongside several other Russians in 1995 - with one claiming he was personally introduced to the MI6 man by Litvinenko.
Major Vyacheslav Zharko said Litvinenko, poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in 2006, and exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky had put him in touch with UK agents.
He later handed himself into Russian officials after learning how ex-FSB officer Andrei Lugovoi had targeted Litvinenko.
Skripal’s handler had also allegedly done work for the UK security consultancy firm whose boss drew up a dossier on US President Donald Trump’s dealings with Russia.
The Daily Telegraph said the handler listed himself on LinkedIn as a consultant for Orbis Business Intelligence, run by ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele, sparking claims Skripal may have played a part in the dossier.
But yesterday sources close to Orbis denied any links to Skripal whatsoever.
The MI6 handler’s LinkedIn profile was deleted on Wednesday.
Staff at Cote in Salisbury, Wilts, have told The Sun how Skripal and the mystery man switched seamlessly between Russian and English and talked of regular trips to Poland for “business”.
Waitress Dagmara Wieczorak, 34, was shown the only known photo of the MI6 man and said: “That is the English man in the tweed suit that used to meet Sergei every month.
“I am sure of it.”
Skripal had worked for the Russia’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) since the Soviet era.
But in 1995 he met a Spanish man during a long-term mission in Malta and Spain.
The pair started their own wine-import business in secret and the Spaniard, known only as Luis, later introduced Skripal to the MI6 man, who was using a false name.
At first, the spook pretended to be another entrepreneur, inviting Skripal to go into business with him.
He allegedly took Skripal to a strip club, but the Russian military intelligence colonel went home to his wife.
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Skripal eventually agreed spy for money, picking up £76,000 from MI6 in exchange for secrets.
He allegedly provided information on at least 300 Russian intelligence officers and the inner workings of the GRU.
But he was arrested in 2004.