LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2018) The author of The Skripal Files book, BBC journalist Mark Urban, told Sputnik in an interview that he did not rule out that the former double agent Sergei Skripal, who had been poisoned with his daughter Yulia in March, might soon make his own statement about what happened, especially after the release of his book.
The Skripal Files book written by Urban and based on the last summer's interviews with the former colonel of Russian military intelligence service GRU went on sale on Thursday. It describes Skripal's work for UK intelligence, mentioning that he did not think about any threat to him from Russia.
"We would all like to know. Of course, given everything I have told you already, you will understand that he hasn't told me. But who knows maybe the appearance of my book will prompt a statement from him," Urban said, in an answer to the question on what version Skripal himself had about his poisoning.
The author of the book said that he had last seen Skripal in the summer of last year and has not communicated with him since then.
"I saw him last in July 2017, and spoke to him by phone in August of the same year ... I have left him many messages but he hasn't got back to me. So no I'm not I'm not in contact with him now. He's been dealing with some really difficult times, it's understandable," Urban said.
He also admitted that he didn't know where Skripal was now, but suggested that the former spy was still in the United Kingdom.
"I don't know. But my feeling is yes. He likes it here, and he's been well looked after, particularly at Salisbury Hospital," the book's author said.
Urban did not rule out that the former GRU colonel might experience some health problems after weeks spent in a coma.
"I can't really answer ... that because I haven't had recent contact. As for treatment, when we interviewed staff at Salisbury hospital earlier this summer, the people who had treated them, they spoke about the unknowns involved with poisoning by this type of nerve agent. There would be possible after effects, and things would be unpredictable. He also spent many weeks in deep sedation, which can create its own after effects. My sense is that he has suffered some ongoing medical issues, but of course there are questions of medical confidentiality here. It's not the type of information people readily share," Urban said.
He said he did not know what the future plans of Salisbury incident victims might be.
"Even if he had made some decisions this would be a closely guarded secret. After all, he has been through a terrible experience and his safety is now paramount," the author said.
He noted that more is known about the plans of Skripal's daughter Yulia, and she herself expressed desire to return to Russia.
"We know more about her of course, because we saw her message after she was released from hospital. ... As for her plans, as you know, she said one day she wants to go back to Russia. That seems to have been her firm intention right up until this summer. But it's interesting that hasn't happened yet. My sense is that she has always been free to go. I know the idea that they are 'imprisoned' is popular with some people in Russia, but I don't buy it," Urban said.
He believes that Skripal communicates with the outside world through Yulia, since she owns social networks better.
"To some extent, I think Sergei is communicating through Yulia. We've seen this for example with the call to his mother. Of course Yulia is more 'connected' � and always was � through social media. She made clear in her early statement that she was able to access those communications. So she has had visitors, and there are some examples given in my book. The Russian press has reported for example that in June one of Yulia's friends from Moscow travelled to visit them in the UK. I think he's also been able to communicate with people," Urban said.
On March 4, Skripal, who had previously been convicted in Russia for treason, and his daughter Yulia, were poisoned in Salisbury. The incident provoked an international scandal. London believes that the Russian state is implicated in poisoning of Skripals with the A234 nerve agent. Moscow categorically refutes this. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the Skripal affair was falling apart due to the lack of evidence proving Russian involvement. The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent about 60 diplomatic notes to the UK Foreign Office, demanding to give Russia access to the investigation, to the injured Russian citizens, and also requesting legal assistance and proposing for cooperation, including a joint investigation, but the UK authorities did not respond.
On September 5, UK prosecutors brought charges against two Russian citizens, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, under four articles of the criminal law, including the attempted murder via poisoning of Skripal, his daughter Yulia and UK police officer Nick Bailey. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she believes that the suspects work for the Main Directorate of Russia's General Staff of the Armed Forces (formerly known as the GRU), albeit without providing any evidence. The Russian authorities have emphasized that the investigation into the Salisbury poisoning case required scrupulous analysis of data and close cooperation.
In March, then UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claimed that London had concrete evidence of Moscow's involvement in the attack. The accusations then turned out to be false after UK experts failed to identify the source of origin of the substance used in the attack. The UK Foreign Office then confirmed that the conclusion on the Moscow's alleged trace in the attack was made based on their assessment of information rather than confirmed evidence.
