Revealed
SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY
Boyfriend of poison victim Yulia Skripal was Russian secret service agent
THE boyfriend of nerve poison victim Yulia Skripal was a Russian secret service agent, we can reveal.
Yulia, 33, was in a stormy relationship with a mystery Russian said to belong to Vladimir Putin’s intelligence network.
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The disclosure adds fuel to the theory that Yulia may have been deliberately targeted as well as her dad Sergei, 66.
Both remained in a critical condition in hospital yesterday after being found two weeks ago slumped unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
The details emerged as Moscow expelled 23 British diplomats in a tit-for-tat move yesterday.
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Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal visits a computer shop in Salisbury shortly before nerve agent attack
The Foreign Office later repeated claims Russia was “culpable” for the attempted assassination of double agent Skripal and Yulia, who had flown to the UK from Moscow the day before.
One Russian newspaper claimed yesterday that her boyfriend was a shadowy figure she never introduced to pals.
Komsomolskaya Pravda said: “Her friends we managed to talk to say that they have only seen him in photographs.
“A couple mentioned that he allegedly works for Russian special services.”
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Hero cop Sergeant Nick Bailey's car is removed by troops in Russian spy Sergei Skripal probe
Friends say snaps Yulia uploaded of him and members of her family on social media had recently vanished.
Pal Irina Petrova told The Sun on Sunday: “The social networks have been cleaned a lot. Yulia posted a lot of photos with family and close ones but they are no longer there.”
A woman called Tamara who bought the Skripal family flat claimed Yulia’s relationship was troubled.
Tamara, who paid £165,000 for the home on a bleak Moscow estate, said: “Yulia had issues in her love life. She complained about her on-off boyfriend and said she struggled to make their relationship work.”
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Skripal 'in visit to wife's grave'
SERGEI Skripal may have visited his wife’s grave with daughter Yulia just hours before they collapsed.
The pair were near the town cemetery at about 9.15am that day, say cops.
Investigators in hazard suits last night moved a car parked nearby, believed to be an unmarked police vehicle. Cops also released a picture of Sergei’s BMW.
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CCTV shows BMW of poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal driving into town at 13:32 on Sunday 4th March 2018
Skripal’s niece Victoria, 45, has also claimed the boyfriend's mother was a “high ranked” security service agent and may have planned the Novichok gas attack.
The older woman was said to be furious that he was dating the daughter of Skripal who had betrayed up to 300 comrades.
Victoria, from Yaroslavl, north east of Moscow, said: “It was done not against Skripal, but against his daughter.
“She was with a young man but she had strained relations with his mother, at least this was how she told us. The mother didn’t accept her.
“The mother thought that if Yulia was the daughter of the traitor, then Yulia herself will betray.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin smirks when asked if Russia is responsible for the poisoning of spy Sergei Skripal
Another friend of Yulia spoke of his surprise that so little information about her fight for life had been released.
The man, called Konstantin, said: “You know what is strange? There is no photo of Yulia or her father from the hospital and there’s been no news about their state for a week. Did what we’re told really happen to them?”
Analysts believe Putin is fanning the flames of discord with Britain to boost his strongman image before Russia’s presidential election today.
He has effectively barred all opposition but still needs a convincing voter turnout, which will be boosted if he looks tough on the world stage.
It came as Russian exiles in the UK were warned yesterday that hitmen feared to have killed Putin’s enemy Nikolai Glushkov may strike again.
Anti-terror police were understood to have contacted several high-profile Russians warning them to be extra vigilant.
The Sun revealed that Glushkov, 68, was strangled then strung up to make it appear as if he had killed himself at home in New Malden, Surrey.
A murder probe was launched after tests showed he was dead before he was hanged.
-An earlier version of this article reported that Yulia Skripal had worked in the US Embassy in Moscow. The Embassy has contacted us to say that they have no record of her having worked there, and so the article has now been amended.
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