Poisoned Russian spy, daughter to be offered new identities
8 April 2018 5:22 PM GMT
London: The former Russian double agent and his daughter, who are recovering in a UK hospital from a deadly nerve agent poisoning, will be offered new identities and repatriated to the US with the help of the CIA, a media report has claimed.
Sergei and Yulia Skripal are said to be no longer in a critical condition at a hospital in Salisbury, where they have been treated since being discovered slumped on a bench in the Wiltshire town in south-west England on March 4.
British intelligence officials at MI6 have had discussions with their counterparts in the CIA about resettling the father and daughter, 'The Sunday Times' reported.
"They will be offered new identities," the newspaper quoted a senior figure from the UK political establishment as saying.
Both victims are said to be conscious and ready to help investigators with their inquiries into the nerve agent attack, which the UK government believes was masterminded by the Kremlin.
For Britain to help the pair, a senior police officer is expected to issue the Skripals with a so-called "Osman warning", a formal notification that intelligence suggests there is a real and immediate "threat to life".
They could then be placed under a witness protection programme on the basis that the pair hold key evidence about a possible motive for the attack.
That could involve moving them to a "safe house" and being given round the clock armed police protection as well as new identities.
Security sources told the newspaper that Britain would want to ensure their safety by relocating them with one of the "five eyes" countries, the UK's intelligence-sharing partnership which includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Yulia, 33, a Russian citizen, has reportedly rejected demands by the Russian embassy in London to offer her and her father with consular support a move that has convinced British officials she might move to the West permanently, the report said.
While her 66-year-old father is also awake now, British officials have warned that life for the Skripals "would likely never be the same again" and that they could have injuries that would "require ongoing medical care".
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