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The UK in particular has seen several assassination attempts carried out by Russian agents.
In 2006, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died after being poisoned with polonium.
In 2012, financier Alexander Perepilichnyy died after a trip abroad, and “signs of a fatal plant poison” were reportedly found on his body.
And in 2018, former Russian military officer and double agent for British intelligence Sergei Skripal was the target of an attempted assassination using a nerve agent called Novichok.
These are just some examples of suspicious deaths in the UK over the past decades, and suspicion has pointed toward Russian agencies carrying out the attacks.
But exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky would not be surprised if he woke up to headlines describing another assassination attempt carried out by Russian agents on UK soil.
In fact, they are already operating in the UK, he says.
A gangster’s temptation
In a recent interview with The Sun, Mikhail Khodorkovsky issued a stark warning that the British public must remain on high alert. He believes an attack is highly likely.
The interview was later published on Khodorkovsky’s own website.
Having spent a decade in a Siberian prison, the exiled tycoon knows how the Russian leader thinks. “Putin is a gangster, and he perceives someone else’s weakness as an invitation to attack,” he told the newspaper. Currently, Moscow views Europe as a weak opponent.
The conflict in Ukraine has severely strained Russia’s conventional forces, making a direct assault on Britain highly improbable. Khodorkovsky noted that Moscow lacks the required capability for a conventional military operation against the West. Instead, the Kremlin relies on asymmetrical methods.
Tensions escalated further this week when Russia announced a symbolic manhunt for former British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. The UK Foreign Office quickly condemned the move, calling the charges an act of intimidation.
Three avenues of attack
To target Britain, the Kremlin relies on three distinct methods. The first tool is the GRU military intelligence unit. While British security forces disrupted a high-profile nerve agent attack in Salisbury, Khodorkovsky noted that similar operations in other European countries have successfully eliminated their targets.
The second strategy relies on traditional spy networks, including operatives from the Federal Security Service. Though British authorities previously expelled numerous intelligence officers, Khodorkovsky warned that a backup network is being prepared.
Finally, Moscow increasingly outsources attacks to local criminals via social media. Khodorkovsky described this as the cheapest option. Even so, it has already proven highly effective on British soil, as seen when five men were recently convicted of firebombing a warehouse in east London on behalf of the Wagner Group.
Encrypted chat logs from that case also revealed a separate plot to kidnap a prominent Russian dissident living in London. Rumors of a coup are nonsense, Khodorkovsky added. “I am absolutely convinced that in today’s world no country can afford to appear defenceless,” he concluded.
Sources: The Sun, Khodorkovsky.com, Business Insider
