Spy’s widow says she has ‘deja vu’ over major incident in England

THE case of the Russian spy found unconscious in the UK has disturbing parallels to a former agent who died after a few drops of a radioactive chemical were placed in his tea.

THE sight of emergency responders in hazmat suits combing the streets of London and hosing down public areas is chillingly familiar to some.

When it was revealed that a former Russian spy was in critical condition after coming into contact with an “unknown substance” yesterday, the widow of Alexander Litvinenko said she experienced “deja vu”.

Mr Litvinenko was assassinated in London just over 11 years ago.

There was no bombs or bullets involved — instead, he simply drank a cup of tea — and in the days that followed the outspoken critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin experienced severe diarrhoea and vomiting, symptoms of a sickening poisoning that would quickly lead to his death.

‘I want the world to see what they did to me,’ Mr Litvinenko reportedly said before his death.

Mystified doctors could not understand why the political exile and former Russian spy started to become so physically weak and spend long periods unconscious.

However, New York Times journalist Alan Cowell said Mr Litvinenko demanded that a photograph was taken of him on his deathbed and released to the public. “I want the world to see what they did to me,” Mr Litvinenko reportedly said.

The cause became apparent in the weeks after Mr Litvinenko’s slow and painful demise in 2006. Investigators discovered that radioactive polonium-210 was slipped into his teapot.

An inquiry into the death ruled Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the killing and identified two Russians, Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, as the prime suspects. Russia’s government and media vehemently denied and ridiculed the claims.

Marina Litvinenko said she was shocked by yesterday’s incident in London. Picture: Solent News and Photo Agency

More than 11 years later, the case today bears stunning similarities to the “major incident” declared in the UK yesterday evening.

British media reported that the victim of yesterday’s attack, also a former Russian spy, was in a critical condition and named as Sergei Skripal.

The 66-year-old was convicted in Russia on charges of spying for Britain and sentenced in 2006 to 13 years in prison. He was freed in 2010 as part of a US-Russian spy swap.

The widow of Mr Litvinenko, Marina, said that she had been “really, really shocked” at the news that another Russian agent was critically ill in hospital because of a suspected poisoning.

“It was kind of deja vu,” Ms Litvinenko told The Times. “When I opened my computer the first picture I saw is these people in costumes against radiation.”

British police declared a “major incident” after two people — a man in his 60s, and a woman in her 30s — were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury, 140km southwest of London.

In disturbing similarities with Mr Litvinenko’s radioactive poisoning, parts of the city centre remained sealed off on Monday night as emergency responders in hazmat suits continued to canvas the area.

Sergei Skripal, pictured in 2006, is said to be in critical condition. Picture: AP Photo/Misha Japaridze

TV footage showed them hosing down public areas and searching bins, while a local restaurant closed “as a precaution” in connection with the incident, police said.

It is not yet clear what the substance was or whether it radioactive.

Freya Church, who saw the couple slumped on the bench, told the BBC they “looked so out of it”.

“It looked like they’d been taking something quite strong,” she said.

The trust running Salisbury District Hospital advised people on Monday not to attend the emergency department “unless extremely urgent” as they dealt with the situation.

A spokeswoman for Public Health England, the government’s healthcare agency, said there did not “appear to be any immediate risk to public health”.

She added: “In situations like this our scientists and medical colleagues join the multi-agency response and, when appropriate, contribute any necessary public health advice.”

Despite the reassurances, Wiltshire Police warned local people to call emergency services “if you feel your own or another’s health is significantly deteriorating”.

Russia has denied any responsibility for Litvinenko’s death. Picture: Alexei Nikolsky/Pool Photo via AP

Although Russia has denied any responsibility for Mr Litvinenko’s death, Keir Giles, director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre in Cambridge, UK, said he “would be surprised if this (yesterday’s attack) were not linked back to Russia in some direct way”.

He said he could not rule out an overdose or some other kind of accidental poisoning — but found it hard to picture such a scenario “that would lead to a full-scale decontamination of the street and the hospital”.

Mr Giles also invoked a string of suspicious deaths of Russian government opponents in Britain since Mr Litvinenko’s slaying.

“It’s not just Litvinenko,” he said. “It’s hard not to see a pattern of the attacks becoming more and more brazen.”

Igor Sutyagin, who was part of the same spy swap as Mr Skripal and now is a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said there was not enough evidence to point fingers in any direction.

“There are lots of former security officers that deserted to the West,” he said, urging caution until more is known. “It is necessary to balance this information.”

— With AAP