Salisbury attack: Sergei Skripal's ex-girlfriend in hiding from Putin's assassins
THE FORMER girlfriend of poisoned Russian spy Sergei Skripal has gone into hiding after telling a friend she is “incredibly scared”.
The woman, also Russian, is said to be too terrified of President Vladimir Putin’s “assassins” to go to the police.
A mutual friend told a Sunday newspaper: “When she saw the news about what had happened, she said to me, ‘That’s my ex-boyfriend’. She is incredibly scared.”
Former MI6 double agent Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, are still in a critical condition after they were struck down by the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury on March 4.
He is said to have begun a friendship with the woman in the city following the death of his wife Lyudmila in 2012.
The former colonel settled there after a spy swap in 2010.
When she saw the news about what had happened, she said to me, ‘That’s my ex-boyfriend’. She is incredibly scared
The mutual friend said: “He told her he was a multi-millionaire from Russia and they began communicating.
“The police don’t even know she exists. Only a very small number of people know what went on between them and what was said.”
Details of the spy’s friendship with the woman were revealed yesterday as Russia’s ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, was accused of cynicism for sending a get-well letter to Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, 38, who was also poisoned.
The officer was one of the first to respond after Mr Skripal and Yulia were found unconscious on a bench outside the Maltings shopping centre.
The bench was removed by police on Friday as a “potential crime exhibit”.
May: Russian state 'culpable' for Sergei Skripal attack
DS Bailey was discharged from hospital last week but said in a statement that life would never be the same for him, his wife Sarah and their children.
In the letter Mr Yakovenko praised the officer’s bravery and said how pleased he was that he had now been reunited with his family.
He also wrote that he hoped the Skripals “will get well soon too” before adding: “Please be assured that Russia has nothing to do with this reckless incident and is ready to cooperate with the British authorities with regard to the investigation both bilaterally and through international organisations.”
However, Matthew Dean, leader of Salisbury City Council, described the letter as “in the most appalling taste and demonstrates the most dreadful cynicism”.
It also emerged yesterday the location-logging devices in Mr Skripal’s mobile phones were turned off for four hours on the day they were attacked.
Experts said the victims could have switched off the GPS system themselves to meet someone in secret.
It was also possible the Russians hacked the phones and disabled the GPS monitors to frustrate police inquiries into the assassination attempt.
Meanwhile, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Theresa May’s accusations that Moscow was involved “border on banditry”.