I have to confess to having been a little dubious of a book published on the Skripals this soon after the events surrounding their near death. At the time of publication, the online investigators of Bellingcat had only just unearthed the identities of their alleged GRU poisoners and I doubted this would make it into the narrative (I was correct on that). But the author, Mark Urban, is a highly respected journalist and author, a number of his books on the SAS in particular being essential reading.
Once I started The Skripal Files, any concerns I had were allayed. It turns out the author had been in conversation with Sergei Skripal long before the attack on him, having been speaking to him for a book project on post-Cold War spying. So, much of this book consists of information the author had already researched, and thus this is far from a tabloid tome rushed out to cash in on a headline news story.
The Skripal Files is in many ways a biography of Sergei Skripal himself, a biography that helps illuminate the history of the post-Cold War Russian intelligence apparatus, with a particular focus on the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. Skripal, a military engineer by training, had joined the army airborne corp, from which many members of the elite Spetznaz are drawn (while the Spetznaz have often been compared to the SAS or US Navy Seals, the author Mark Galeotti argues that they are not actually comparable). Skripal was then taken on by the GRU and was posted abroad to Malta, then later Madrid. Perhaps ironically given what was to come, his job was to recruit agents to spy for Russia, though he does not appear to have achieved much success. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Skripal suffered the same crisis of purpose as many Russian intelligence officers and was ripe for recruitment by MI6.
Mark Urban outlines all this in fascinating detail, before going on to explain how Skripal’s cover was finally blown to the FSB, the Russian internal intelligence service; how he was arrested, interrogated and sent to the gulag; how he was eventually traded in a spy swap; his life in the UK; and what might have led the Russian state to target him. Apart from being interesting in itself, this all gives a good insight into the decline of Russia’s intelligence agencies in the early 90’s, how MI6 and other western agencies targeted officers within those agencies for recruitment, and how post-Putin’s rise, Russia has tried, often brutally, to stop the rot.
What I found most interesting about this title however, was the insight it gave into Skripal himself. Pictures of him from his life in retirement in Salisbury prior to the poisoning give the impression of a rather harmless, slightly overweight, elderly man. This is misleading. Skripal was tough, indeed in other circumstances he might well have been the one doing the poisoning. Prior to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, when Skripal was with the airborne forces, he was sent into the country on an assassination mission. While not spelt out, it’s clear they did what they were asked. Other anecdotes scattered throughout the book make it clear that on occasion Skripal was more than happy to rely on his fists. None of this of course means we should have any less sympathy for Skripal, his attempted poisoning was without a doubt a serious crime, but again it gives an insight into the kind of people that make up the GRU.
Alongside the Bellingcat revelations, which this book was completed prior to, and so does not feature in the narrative, Mark Urban’s writing leaves little doubt as to the GRU’s complicity in Skripal’s poisoning, and thus that of the Russian state. This is a fascinating account of both Skripal’s near assassination, the GRU organisation he was once a part of, and the ongoing war Russia is engaged in with the West.
4 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment