PRAGUE — The aging Russian spy had been a free man for only a few years when he turned up in Prague for a secret meeting with his former adversaries. He looked ill, but acted jovial, drinking with his Czech hosts and joking that his doctor had prescribed whiskey for high blood pressure. Then he got down to business, rattling off information about Russian spycraft and the activities of former colleagues that might give the Czechs an edge over their foes. The British authorities have accused Russia of trying to assassinate Mr. Skripal, a charge the Russians angrily deny. One of Britain’s highest ranking spymasters, the MI5 chief, Andrew Parker, lambasted Russia on Monday in a speech to security chiefs in Berlin, accusing the Kremlin of “barefaced lying” and “criminal thuggery,” and warning Russia that it risked becoming a “more isolated pariah.”

Source: New York Times May 14, 2018 03:56 UTC