Putin likely to stage another Salisbury-style attack, exiled oil tycoon says (www.theguardian.com)
from HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to world@lemmy.world on 30 Mar 15:35
https://sh.itjust.works/post/57668175

Vladimir Putin is likely to stage another Salisbury-style attack on UK soil unless the government adopts more aggressive tactics against the Kremlin, the exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said.

The former oil tycoon has emerged as a leading figure in Russian diaspora opposition circles and claims to be well-informed about current thinking and developments among Moscow’s elite.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Khodorkovsky – who still fears for his life after spending 10 years in a Siberian prison after clashes with Putin – said the Trump presidency had provided the Russian leader with a “window of opportunity” to threaten Europe.

Khodorkovsky predicted that Putin was likely to mass troops on the border of a Nato country such as Estonia, to “flex his muscles” and said he believed that Russian security services were planning an attack similar to the 2018 Salisbury Novichok poisonings to destabilise the UK.

“The goal […] would not just be to get rid of certain people but to create a sense of vulnerability in the west. Like it was in Salisbury,” Khodorkovsky said. “It’s not important whether the victim dies or not, what’s important is that the sense of vulnerability has been created.

#world