Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Russian spy attack: What we know so far

A man who is critically ill after being exposed to an unknown substance in Wiltshire is a Russian national convicted of spying for Britain, the BBC understands.

Sergei Skripal, 66, was granted refuge in the UK following a "spy swap" between the US and Russia in 2010.

He and a woman, 33, were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre in Salisbury on Sunday.

Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury has been closed by police "as a precaution".

The substance has not been identified, but Public Health England said there was no known risk to the public's health.

Wiltshire Police are investigating whether a crime has been committed. They said the pair had no visible injuries but had been found unconscious at the Maltings shopping centre.

They have declared a "major incident" and multiple agencies are investigating. They said it had not been declared as a counter-terrorism incident, but they were keeping an "open mind".

Col Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006 for spying for Britain.

He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

Russia said Col Skripal had been paid $100,000 for the information, which he had been supplying from the 1990s.

He was one of four prisoners released by Moscow in exchange for 10 US spies in 2010, as part of a swap. Col Skripal was later flown to the UK.

He and the woman, who police said were known to each other, are both in intensive care at Salisbury District Hospital.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Witness: "They looked like they'd been taking something quite strong"

A number of locations in the city centre were cordoned off and teams in full protective gear used hoses to decontaminate the street.

The hospital advised people to attend routine operations and outpatient appointments unless they were contacted. It said its A&E department was open but busy because of the weather.

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On the restaurant closure, police said Public Health England had reiterated the advice that there was no known risk to the wider public, but as a precaution advised that if people felt ill they should contact the NHS on 111.

"If you feel your own or another's health is significantly deteriorating, ring 999," police said.

Neighbours at Sergei Skripal's home in Salisbury say police arrived around 17:00 GMT on Sunday and have been there ever since.

They said he was friendly and in recent years had lost his wife.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Temp Asst Chief Constable Craig Holden: "We are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place"

Eyewitness Freya Church told the BBC it looked like the two people had taken "something quite strong".

She said: "On the bench there was a couple, an older guy and a younger girl. She was sort of leant in on him, it looked like she had passed out maybe.

"He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky...

"They looked so out of it I thought even if I did step in I wasn't sure how I could help."

Image caption Public Health England has not confirmed what the substance was

Image caption The hospital's A&E was closed on Monday while two people were treated

The possibility of an unexplained substance being involved has drawn comparisons with the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

The Russian dissident died in London in 2006 after drinking tea laced with a radioactive substance.

A public inquiry concluded that his killing had probably been carried out with the approval of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in the UK, when asked for comment on the incident, said: "Neither relatives nor legal representatives of the said person, nor the British authorities, have addressed the embassy in this regard."

Analysis

By BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera

The parallels are striking with the 2006 case of Alexander Litvinenko.

He, too, was a former Russian intelligence officer who had come to the UK and was taken ill for reasons that were initially unclear.

In that case, it took weeks to establish that the cause was deliberate poisoning, and it took close to a decade before a public inquiry pointed the finger of blame at the Russian state.

Officials are stressing that it is too early this time to speculate on what happened here or why.

The police are not even yet saying a crime has been committed, but if the similarities do firm up and Moscow is once again found to be in the frame there will be questions about what kind of response might be required - and whether enough was done in the past to deter such activity being repeated.

Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said the police approach to the Salisbury incident suggested there could be a "very sinister background".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight, he said: "It could indeed potentially have been the FSB (Russian intelligence services) or the Kremlin could have been behind it.

"It could have been some form of criminal response for other reasons, or it could be some form of personal grievance some individual had against these two people or either of them.

"We don't know at this stage and it is not going to be useful to speculate beyond that," he added.

What were the charges against Col Skripal?

Col Skripal was convicted of "high treason in the form of espionage" by Moscow's military court in August 2006. He was stripped off all his titles and awards.

He was alleged by the Russian security service FSB to have begun working for the British secret services while serving in the army in the 1990s.

He had been passing information classified as state secrets and been paid for the work by MI6, the FSB claimed.

Col Skripal pleaded guilty at his trial and co-operated with investigators, reports said at the time.

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• Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is critically ill after being exposed to a mystery substance on Sunday, the BBC reported.
• British police are investigating after he, and a woman in her 30s, were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre.
• Skripal was imprisoned in Moscow for passing intelligence to British spies. He was later released as part of a spy swap deal with the US.

A former Russian spy is critically ill in a British hospital after being exposed to a mystery substance, according to the BBC.

The UK broadcaster reported that 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and a woman in her 30s were taken ill on Sunday at a shopping centre in Salisbury, south England.

Police declared a “major incident” in the region, and on Monday evening they confirmed that a man and a woman were found “unconscious on a bench” in The Maltings retail complex. Wiltshire Police said:

“The pair, who we believe are known to each other, did not have any visible injuries and were taken to Salisbury District Hospital. They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. Both are currently in a critical condition in intensive care.

Police did not comment on the identity of the substance that Skripal and his associate were exposed to. They are both in intensive care at Salisbury District Hospital.

Skripal was granted asylum in Britain after being pardoned by Russia in a 2010 “spy swap” deal with the US, under which 10 Russian spies arrested by the FBI were released.

The ex-Russian military intelligence colonel was jailed by Moscow for 13 years after passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working in Europe to the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, the BBC said.

Comparisons are already being drawn with Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB spy who was poisoned in a luxury London hotel in 2006. He drunk tea poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope and, from his deathbed, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his murder.</s>Police in southwest England say two people are in critical condition and are being treated "for suspected exposure to an unknown substance." One of the victims is a former Russian spy, Britain's national broadcaster said.

"The two people -- a man aged in his 60s, and a woman aged in her 30s -- were found unconscious on a bench in The Maltings in Salisbury," Wiltshire police said on Monday, adding that the injured are known to each other.

UK's national broadcaster, the BBC, is naming the man, who is in his 60s, as former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who was granted refuge in the UK following a "spy swap" between the US and Russia in 2010.

None of the individuals involved has been named by the UK Home Office, Wiltshire Police or Salisbury Hospital.

"Because we are still at the very early stages of the investigation, we are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place," police said.

Reiterating an earlier announcement, police said in a statement on Monday that "a major incident has been declared today and a multi-agency response has been co-ordinated."</s>A man in hospital after he was believed to have been exposed to an unknown substance is a former Russian spy, it is understood.

The BBC reported Sergei Skripal, 66, is critically ill along with a woman, believed to be known to him, after they were found unconscious on a bench in a shopping centre in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Skripal was convicted of passing state secrets to Britain in 2006 before being given refuge in the UK as part of a spy swap.

The former colonel in the Russian military intelligence, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006, was among four other convicts who were given pardons and one of two sent to Britain in 2010 in a deal that was said at the time to be the largest spy swap since the Cold War.

Wiltshire Police said because the investigation was in the early stages officers are “unable to ascertain” whether the pair have been victims of a crime and have reassured people there is no risk to the wider public.

A major incident has been declared at Salisbury District Hospital but patients have been advised to attend appointments as normal unless advised otherwise.

Officers were called to The Maltings by a member of the public on Sunday shortly after 4pm.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: “The pair, who we believe are known to each other, did not have any visible injuries and were taken to Salisbury District Hospital.

“They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. Both are currently in a critical condition in intensive care.

“Because we are still at the very early stages of the investigation, we are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place.”

The force said a number of areas in Salisbury had been cordoned off in relation to their investigation.

A spokesman for Public Health England (PHE) said anyone exposed to the unknown substance had been decontaminated “as is standard practice in situations like this”.

He added: “Scientists from PHE’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, will continue to assist the response and review information as it becomes available.”
• READ MORE: Pair remain critical after suspected exposure to ‘unknown substance’</s>(CNN) One of two people critically ill in a UK hospital after a "suspected exposure to an unknown substance" is a former Russian military official convicted of being a British spy, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Sergei Skripal, 66, who was granted refuge in the UK after a high-profile " spy swap " between the US and Russia in 2010, was found slumped on a shopping center bench in Salisbury, southern England, with an unidentified woman. Police said both were unconscious when they were discovered on Sunday afternoon.

Authorities declined to confirm their identities, nor the nature of the substance to which they were exposed. Police described them only as a man in his 60s and a woman in her 30s, and were known to each other.

The two are being being treated at Salisbury District Hospital's intensive care unit, where their condition remains critical.

Wiltshire police temporary assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said police were keeping an open mind on the cause of injuries. He said the incident was not being treated as terrorism and cautioned against speculation.

A branch of the Zizzi restaurant chain, close to where the couple were found, was closed as part of the inquiry. Images taken outside the restaurant Monday night show investigators wearing anti-contamination suits searching the premises.

A woman who saw Skripal and the unnamed woman earlier Sunday described the couple as appearing "out of it." Freya Church, a local resident, said she saw the pair on a bench. "She sort of leant in on him, it looked like she'd passed out maybe. He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky," Church said.

"I felt like I should step in but to be honest they looked so out of it that I thought that even if I did step in I wasn't sure how I would help. So yeah, I just left them, but it looked like they'd been taking something quite strong."

Skripal arrived in the UK as part of an elaborately choreographed spy swap conducted by the United States and Russia in which the two countries exchanged agents on chartered planes on the runway at an airport in Vienna, Austria.

Skripal was one of four Russians who traveled in the opposite direction, after being pardoned by President Dmitry Medvedev.

It quoted Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence colonel, was convicted for "treason in the form of espionage" and that he had been recruited by Britain's MI6 intelligence service, following his arrest in December 2004.

The report said he had spied for Britain while serving as an intelligence officer during the 1990s and that he had continued to communicate with MI6 after his retirement in 1999.

According to the FSB, Skripal's "actions caused serious damage to the national defense and security." The intelligence service added that MI6 paid Skripal for the information in foreign currency, which was transferred monthly to his account in a Spanish bank.

The FSB said that Skripal had admitted his guilt and gave truthful testimony about his activities, which the court had taken into consideration in sentencing him.

Skripal is believed to have lived in the UK since his release from Russian custody in 2010.

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify when the couple were found.</s>Sergei Skripal, a former double intelligence agent for Russia and Britain, was taken critically ill after being exposed to a mystery substance.

He and his daughter Yulia collapsed on a bench in Salisbury, south England, on Sunday. They remain in critical condition.

The case has sparked wild speculation that Skripal was targeted by Russian assassins, but the Kremlin has denied any knowledge.

In a mark of how serious the matter is being taken by UK authorities, counterterrorism police are now leading the investigation into the apparent poisoning.

Scroll down to learn more about Skripal, and see exactly how he went from working for Russian intelligence to fighting for his life at a hospital in Britain.

Sergei Skripal, who's now 66, started passing Russian state secrets to the UK in 1990s. Not much is known about his life before that.

1995 — British spies recruit Skripal while he is a Russian military intelligence officer. He starts passing Russian state secrets to Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.

His leaks include the identities of dozens of Russian agents in Europe. This information is later used to surveil and later expel the agents from multiple European countries.

See more: Russia probably has more undercover 'sleeper' agents who can assassinate Western targets today than during the Cold War

1999 — Skripal leaves the military, having reached the rank of colonel. He keeps passing on state secrets even after his retirement, according to the FSB. He joins the Russian foreign ministry.

2003 — Skripal leaves the foreign ministry. It's not entirely clear whether he is still passing on Russian state secrets to the UK.

2004 — Skripal is taken into custody near his home in Moscow. He reportedly tells FSB agents after the arrest: "You outplayed me."

August 2006 — Skripal pleads guilty and is convicted of "high treason in the form of espionage." He is stripped of all his titles and medals, and sentenced to 13 years in jail in Moscow for spying for Britain.

July 8, 2010 — Skripal is pardoned by then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He and three other spies are released from Russia to the UK and US, in exchange for 10 Russian "sleeper" agents from the US. It is the biggest spy swap between the US and Russia since the Cold War.

July 9, 2010 — The four Russians are flown to Vienna, Austria, for a Cold War-style "spy swap" that lasts 90 minutes. This photo shows the Russian and US planes transporting them, parked side by side on the tarmac.

Skripal and Igor Sutyagin, another Russian, are flown to a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire in a spy exchange with the US. They are kept undercover at a hotel nearby for debriefing.

2011 — Skripal and his wife, Liudmilla, buy a semi-detached home in Salisbury. Skripal's family came to Britain to settle with him after the spy exchange.

Yulia moves back to Moscow at some point.

October 23, 2012 — Skripal's wife, Liudmilla, dies of cancer. She lived with Sergei in Wiltshire after he was swapped and granted asylum after the spy exchange.

2017 — Skripal’s 43-year-old son dies in St Petersburg, where he is on holiday with his girlfriend. It’s unclear exactly how he died: The BBC said he was rushed to hospital with liver failure, while Sky News said it was a car crash.

February 2018 — Skripal calls his mother, who is very ill. He reportedly sounds optimistic, although he has been vigilant since the 2010 spy swap.

March 4, 2018, 3:47 p.m. — Skripal, now 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia walk around The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury. Yulia was visiting from Moscow, relatives say.

See more: CCTV footage shows ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal on the night he was allegedly poisoned in Britain

4:15 p.m. — A member of the public calls the police after seeing the pair collapsed on a bench at The Maltings.

12 p.m. (approx) — UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says Britain will "respond appropriately and robustly" if evidence emerges of Russia's involvement in Skripal's suspected poisoning.

See more: Boris Johnson promises to 'bring Russia to heel' following the alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal

2:11 p.m. — The UK's national counterterrorism police say they are leading the investigation into the suspected poisoning. London's Metropolitan Police says it has not been declared a terrorist incident and that it was keeping an "open mind as to what happened."

See more: UK counter-terror police are now leading the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former Russian spy

As of Tuesday evening, Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain in critical condition.</s>The UK would respond "robustly" to any evidence of Russian involvement in the collapse of former spy Sergei Skripal, Boris Johnson has said.

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, in her 30s, are critically ill in hospital after being found unconscious in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

The foreign secretary said he was not pointing fingers at this stage, but described Russia as "a malign and disruptive force".

Mr Skripal - a former Russian agent convicted of spying for Britain - and his daughter were found slumped on a bench outside a shopping centre on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier they were seen walking through an alley leading from a Zizzi restaurant, which has now been "secured" by police.
• How do you tell whether ex-spy was poisoned?

UK police are trying to identify what "unknown substance" harmed the pair.

Mr Johnson told MPs: "Honourable members will note the echoes of the death of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

"And while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, I can reassure the House that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty's Government will respond appropriately and robustly...

"I say to governments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on UK soil will go unsanctioned or unpunished."

Mr Johnson said that if it emerged Russia was linked to the incident in Salisbury "it would be very difficult to imagine" that UK representation at this summer's football World Cup could go ahead in the "normal way".

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He said the UK was "in the lead across the world" in trying to counteract a "host of malign activity" by Russia.

But in a statement quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency, the Russian embassy in London said: "Media reporting could give rise to the impression that this is a planned action by the Russian security services, which in no way corresponds to the truth."

Police are currently examining CCTV footage, filmed by a Salisbury gym, showing an unidentified man and woman walking near the location where Mr Skripal and his daughter were found.

BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said relatives have told BBC News that Ms Skripal was visiting her father on Sunday.

Wiltshire Police has said two officers caught up in the suspected contamination have been treated in hospital for minor symptoms, before they were given the all clear. It is understood their symptoms included itchy eyes and wheezing.

A third member of the emergency services remains in hospital.

Col Skripal, a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was jailed for 13 years by Russia in 2006.

He was convicted of passing the identities of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe to the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6.

In July 2010, he was one of four prisoners released by Moscow in exchange for 10 Russian spies arrested by the FBI as part of a swap. He was later flown to the UK.

Read more about Sergei Skripal's background here.

Do you have any information to share on this story? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
• Send an SMS or MMS to 61124

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.</s>A former Russian spy is fighting for his life after 'being poisoned' outside a UK shopping centre.

Colonel Sergei Skripal, 66, is in critical condition after being found unconscious on a bench outside a Greggs and Superdrug in The Maltings, Salisbury, Wiltshire, by a passerby on Sunday afternoon.

He was discovered alongside a 33-year-old unnamed woman, who was known to Mr Skripal.

The pair are currently in intensive care at Salisbury Hospital under supervision of experts from Public Health England's Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards.

The ex-spy was granted refuge in the UK eight years ago after he was one of four prisoners included in a spy swap between the United States and Russia.

Were you at the hospital or shopping centre? Email webnews@trinitymirror.com

A retired Russian military intelligence colonel, he had been sentenced to 13 years after being accused of spying for Britain and passing identities of secret agents to MI6.

At the time of his trial in 2006 prosecutors said he had been cooperating with the British secret service MI6 since the 1990s.

He was later convicted of "high treason in the form of espionage" but later pardoned and flew to Britain where he led a quiet life in Wiltshire.

An eyewitness who saw Mr Skripal, alongside a younger woman in The Maltings shopping precinct, said the pair looked "so out of it".

At a press conference on Monday evening police said that it was not a counter terrorism incident.

A witness described finding the unconscious on Saturday.

Freya Church told the BBC: "I had just finished training at my work and on the right hand side on a bench there was a couple, a younger girl and older guy.

"She looked like she was leaning on him, kind of passed out maybe. He was doing some strange hand movements looking up to the sky.

"I felt anxious, I felt like I should step in but they looked so out of it I wasn't sure I could have helped, so I just left them. They looked like they'd been taking something so strong."

Earlier today Salisbury Hospital announced it has shut its A&E and declared a "major incident" involving up to 10 casualties after two people who may have been exposed to the powerful opiate fentanyl were left in a critical condition.

The substance has not been formally identified by Public Health England.

Firefighters were called to the hospital in Wiltshire to decontaminate an area outside the A&E department.

Emergency personnel were wearing full-body hazardous materials protective suits at the scene, a green tent was set up and an incident response unit was on site.

It is understood that fewer than 10 people were involved in the incident - mainly members of the public - and there were no fatalities.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service were called to the hospital on Monday morning to decontaminate the area outside the A&E department.

In scenes that could be straight out of a spy novel, Colonel Skripal was recruited by MI6 in the mid-Nineties during an foreign assignment in an unnamed country.

After being recruited he was paid in cash by MI6 handlers for details of Russian intelligence operartions.

The information reportedly included dates and locations of Russian agents' clandestine meetings with their Kremlin handlers in the UK - allowing British intelligence to monitor the exchanges and break up spy rings.

He was returned to the UK as part of a spy swap which saw deep cover agent Anna Chapman returned to Moscow.

Chapman, a joint British and Russian citizen, was sent back to Russia as part of the deal which secured Mr Skripal's release.

Another Russian released to the west in the spy exchange was Dr Igor Sutyagin, a expert in arms control.

Dr Sutayagin was jailed in Russia for allegations he had passed information to a British company. After his release he took a post at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London and is believed to still be resident in the UK.

Salisbury District Hospital tweeted: "Salisbury NHS is currently dealing with a major incident involving a small number of casualties, with a multi-agency response.

"We are not asking additional staff to come to site unless contacted directly."

The hospital added: "We are advising patients to attend for their scheduled appointments unless they too have been contacted directly and asked not to.

"We are asking staff who are due to work today to come to work as normal."

It advised on its website: "Please do not attend the Emergency Department (A&E) unless extremely urgent."

Wiltshire Police said it is suspected two people were exposed to an unknown substance in Salisbury on Sunday.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: "Yesterday afternoon, at approximately 4.15pm, Wiltshire Police received a call from a member of the public who was concerned for the welfare of two people.

"The two people - a man aged in his 60s, and a woman aged in her 30s - were found unconscious on a bench in The Maltings in Salisbury.

"The pair, who we believe are known to each other, did not have any visible injuries and were taken to Salisbury District Hospital. They are currently being treated for suspected exposure to an unknown substance. Both are currently in a critical condition in intensive care.

"Because we are still at the very early stages of the investigation, we are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place."</s>LONDON (AP) — UK foreign secretary confirms 2 people in critical condition are ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Described by neighbours as a quiet man who dressed casually and drove a BMW, Sergei Skripal was once colonel in Russian military intelligence before he was convicted of spying for MI6.

The 66-year-old was accused of working for MI6 over several years, in particular disclosing the names of several dozen Russian agents working in Europe.

He was sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison in August 2006, before being freed in a 2010 deal which saw 10 Russian sleeper agents expelled from the United States.

Skripal retired from military intelligence, often known by its Russian-language acronym GRU, in 1999, the Associated Press said.

He went on to work at the Foreign Ministry until 2003 before becoming involved in business.

He was arrested in 2004 in Moscow and admitted he was recruited by British intelligence in 1995 and had provided information about GRU agents in Europe, for which he was paid more than 100,000 dollars.

Skripal was one of four agents pardoned and released by Moscow in what was said at the time to be the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.

He was flown to the UK along with another of the men freed by Russia in the exchange – military analyst Igor Sutyagin, who was serving a 14-year sentence for spying for the US.

The spy swap took place on July 9, 2010 on the tarmac at Vienna’s airport and a Boeing 767-200 carrying the four agents was understood to have later touched down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The Foreign Office refused to comment at the time on whether the men would remain in the UK.

But it appears Skripal settled for a quieter life in the medieval cathedral city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, for several years until it emerged he was understood to be critically ill in hospital after what police said was suspected exposure to an unknown substance.

Salisbury MP John Glen said Skripal bought a house in the city in 2011 before tragedy befell his family.

“His wife died a year after he settled there and his son subsequently died last year,” Mr Glen said.

Neighbours told the BBC police arrived at his home at around 5pm on Sunday and have been stationed there since.

A police tent in Salisbury at the spot in The Maltings shopping centre where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was found critically ill by exposure to an unknown substance. Pic: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

They added he was friendly and had lost his wife in recent years, the broadcaster said.

Neighbour Mark Medhurst, 43, told the Daily Mail that Skripal drove a BMW and kept the lights off at his home.

James Puttock, 47, told the Guardian his neighbour was “very quiet”.

He said: “He was always walking past, but he did sometimes drive his BMW 3 Series. He never really looked smart, he looked very casual.”

Meanwhile, his compatriot Sutyagin, who always protested his innocence, told the Associated Press in an interview in August 2010 he wanted to return to Russia, saying: “It’s my country. I am not on the run.”

He went on to become a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute specialising in US-Russian relations.

Of his conversations with Skripal on the 2010 flight out of Russia, he told the Guardian: “He talked about his family. It seemed to me it was his family which was his major joy.”

Among the Russian agents deported from America in the swap deal was Manhattan socialite and diplomat’s daughter Anna Chapman, who was married to a British man and lived in London for several years.
Former Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are taken to a hospital in critical condition after being exposed to an unknown substance in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. Skripal was granted refugee status in the UK following a "spy swap" deal between the UK and Russia in 2010.