Former neighbour on poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal

Описание: (11 Mar 2018) A former Moscow neighbor of the ex-spy who was poisoned in England on Sunday said if the Russian government had wanted Sergei Skripal dead, he would have been killed in Russia a long time ago.
Nikolai Tsiplakov told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he lived in the same building as Skripal's family before the retired military intelligence officer was imprisoned for spying for Britain.
Tsiplakov noted there is no proof of Russian involvement in exposing Skripal and his adult daughter to what British authorities say was a nerve agent.
He said: "You need to understand, he's a former spy and he's a traitor. If they wanted him dead, they would have killed him in Russia a long time ago."
Skripal was freed in 2010 as part of spy swap that in which Russian were traded from the West.
Tsiplakov added: "If you need to get rid of a person, when the material is done with and unnecessary, you can throw it away. They can disappear."
Tsiplakov says he was especially close Skripal's son, Alexander, who died last year at the age of 43.

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