Changed identities! Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are safe in New Zealand with changed names!
- Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia have begun a fresh life in New Zealand.
- After Russian agents tried to kill them two years back, the father-daughter duo lived in an MI6 safe house for more than one year.
- And now they have shifted to the country of New Zealand.
Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia-the new identities
British newspaper The Sunday Times has reported that the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were now in New Zealand with a new identity.
One of the senior UK government sources told the newspaper that the New Zealand government has provided the pair with new identities to settle there. They also provided them with the required support to reside there and be safe.
The spying job of Sergei Skripal
Sergei was the former intelligence officer in Russia. He had spied on the Russians for Britain. On learning about it, Russian agencies convicted him and he was put behind bars. A prisoner swap procedure was carried out in 2010 and he was taken into the UK during this process.
Sergei and his daughter Yulia were residing in the English city of Salisbury. But the Russian agents traced them. In March 2018, Sergei and Yulia were found unconscious at their home. The emergency team came in and rushed the two to the hospital. They were in critical condition for many weeks.
Later, the doctors came to know that Sergei and Yulia were victims of Novichok, a Soviet-designed nerve agent. This was allegedly smeared on the door-handle of Sergei’s home in Salisbury.
Moscow denied the allegations that they had sent agents to poison the two. There was a cold-war diplomatic crisis between the West and Russia. Both sides expelled several diplomats belonging to the other side during this crisis.
The further confidential journey of Sergei and Yulia
After the alleged poisoning, the pair never surfaced. They went into hiding. But they did keep one-sided contact with their old neighbors.
Their old neighbors, Ross Cassidy and his wife Mo were shocked in December 2019 when they got a Christmas card from Sergei. Of course, the envelope had no return address on it.
Talking about Sergei, Ross Cassidy told The Times that Sergei was gregarious but also always watchful and suspicious. He never was completely relaxed during his time in the UK.
But while he was in the UK, Sergei and his daughter used their real names there. His neighbor was surprised that despite the fear of his life, he did not get the required protection in the UK.
They recalled that on an earlier occasion, Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 was similarly poisoned in London and lost his life.
Ross said:
‘I’ll never for the life of me understand why they didn’t give him a pseudonym,”
But now, Ross would be happy for his old pal, Sergei since he and his daughter are now in a safe place and with changed identities.
