Found twitching and unconscious on English park bench, ex-Russian spy is critically ill after exposure to mystery toxin
Sergei Skripal, who was found with a woman in the UK city of Salisbury, was granted refuge in Britain after a spy swap between the United States and Russia
Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was one of two people reported critically ill on Monday after exposure to an unidentified substance in Britain, two source close to the investigation said.
British police said two people, a 66-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, had been found unconscious on a bench in a shopping centre on Sunday in the southern English city of Salisbury after exposure to the unknown substance; a witness said the man was twitching and staring upwards. British police did not release the names of those who were being treated but two sources close to the investigation told Reuters that the critically ill man was Skripal.
Both are critically ill in intensive care. Police declared a major incident.
Skripal, once a colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence, was convicted in Russian of betraying agents to British intelligence. He was later swapped and granted refuge in Britain as part of a Cold War style spy exchange in Vienna in 2010.
It was unclear what substance caused Skripal to fall ill.