Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Far less is known about the GRU’s role in the Afghan War in comparison to the KGB, see Andrew, Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive II; and Mitrokhin, “The KGB in Afghanistan.” Last Accessed 8 February 2020. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/WP40-english.pdf.
2. The Kremlin, and indeed some online sources, have claimed Bagnall’s real identity is former British diplomat Pablo Miller, see Rawnsley, “Pablo Miller.” Accessed 8 February 2020. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pablo-miller-the-mystery-man-who-recruited-putins-poisoned-spy
3. Taylor and Snow, “Cold War Spies,” 101–25; and Corera, The Art of Betrayal, 135–183; and Macintyre, The Spy and the Traitor, 32–40.
4. See Harding, A Very Expensive Poison; and “UK spied on Russians with fake rock.” Accessed 8 February 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16614209.
5. Bellingcat would later reveal a third suspect (Denis Sergeev), who conducted physical surveillance against Skripal prior to the assassination, see Bellingca, “Skripal Archive.” Accessed 8 February 2020. https://www.bellingcat.com/tag/skripal/.
6. Smith-Spark and Polglase, “Netherlands officials,” Accessed 8 February 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/04/europe/netherlands-russia-gru-intl/index.html; and Special Counsel Robert S Mueller, Investigation Into Russian Interference, 2019.