A retired Russian special services colonel has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony for passing state secrets to MI6, in the latest espionage episode pitting London against Moscow.The ruling by the Moscow district military court was announced today after a closed trial in which Sergey Skripal, 55, was prosecuted for high treason in the form of espionage. Yevgeny Komissarov, a spokesman for the court, told the Guardian Skripal had "inflicted significant damage on the Russian Federation and its external security".
Russian media, quoting unidentified security sources, said the 55-year-old former officer had disrupted Russia's network of spies in Europe by revealing the names of dozens of agents.
Skripal was arrested in Moscow in December 2004 by the federal security service, although his detention and prosecution were kept secret. Mr Komissarov said Skripal - who pleaded guilty - had become acquainted with British intelligence agents from MI6 (otherwise known as the Secret Intelligence Service or SIS) during a posting to western Europe in the mid-1990s. He retired from the armed forces in 1999 but continued to transfer documents to his handlers at meetings outside Russia until his arrest.
"It is named in the court records that he passed state secrets to the SIS," said Mr Komissarov. "I can't say what data he transferred, but the fact that the special service of another country became familiar with these secrets brought very serious consequences." It is thought that Skripal, a career officer who lived in Moscow, was paid at least £55,000 for the information. The cash was handed over in foreign currency or deposited into a Spanish bank account.
