Poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and daughter start over in New Zealand

A former spy and his daughter who were poisoned by Russian military intelligence agents have started a new life in New Zealand.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia settled in the country after spending more than a year ensconced in a British MI6 safe house, according to the Sunday Times of London.

The two were both found unconscious on a park bench in the British city of Salisbury in March 2018. An investigation revealed the pair had been poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era chemical nerve-agent, which had been smeared by Russian operatives on the door handle of their home. 

Once a Russian spy, Skripal fell afoul of his old colleagues after acting as a double agent on behalf of the British during the 1990s and 2000s.

Both father and daughter survived the attack after a lengthy period in critical condition.

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Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who were formally accused of attempting to murder former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Reuters

Yulia Skripal

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Military personnel in protective suits and gas masks use plastic to wrap the bench where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury.

Peter Macdiarmid/Shutterstock

Petrov (right) and Boshirov seen in another handout photo.

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Another image of Petrov (right) and Boshirov on Fisherton Road in Salisbury, UK, in 2018.

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Yulia Skripal

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British Police Community Support Officers guard a residential property in Salisbury believed to have been cordoned off in connection with the incident.

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A perfume atomiser which is believed to have been used in the poision attack.

Metropolitan Police via Getty Images

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Russia has a long history of targeting enemies of the state beyond their own border. In 2006 Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London after being poisoned with Polonium.

Though they will likely stay under the radar for the rest of their lives, the Skripals still remain in touch with their old neighbors, Ross Cassidy and wife Mo, who received a Christmas letter in the mail from them in December.

“It’s nice to know they are thinking of us,” Cassidy told the Sunday Times. “But I don’t expect we’ll ever see them again.”