With the attack on Sergei Skripal, Vladimir Putin has torn up one of the Cold War’s great conventions
by Jay Elwes / March 15, 2018 / Leave a comment
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: YURI GRIPAS/UPI/PA Images
The attempted poisoning of a former Russian double agent in Salisbury has broken all the rules. Not just those on criminal violence, or on acts of aggression in foreign countries. By attempting to assassinate Sergei Skripal, Vladimir Putin has fundamentally changed the rules of the spying game. The implications of that are far-reaching.
In 2004, Skripal was caught by the FSB and jailed in Russia for passing secrets to MI6. But in 2010, he was pardoned by the then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and exchanged along with three other former spies in a handover at Vienna airport. When it comes to former agents who have been exchanged in this way, the unwritten rule of the Cold War was well-known—once handed over, they were considered out of the game. They were no longer targets, and neither were their families. That’s how it went.
Until Skripal, that is. He breaks that mould. Putin has now made clear that Russia will attack its enemies wherever they are and even if that brings risks for the Kremlin in the form of sanctions and international isolation. Coverage of the attack in the Russian state media has been of denial—but in parallel with statements that this is what happens to traitors. That mirrors Putin’s own position.
The old convention is gone. Putin’s message to those who’ve acted against Russia is clear—there are no rules.
That leaves us facing a wall of questions. Here are five:
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