MYSTERY ATTACK

Former Russian Spy Critically Ill After Exposure to Mysterious Substance

Sergei Skripal and his wife were found unconscious at a shopping center in South England.

A Russian national convicted of spying for the British became "critically ill" after being exposed to an unknown substance in South England. Sergei Skripal, 66, and a 33-year old woman were found unconscious at a shopping center in Salisbury on Sunday in what police are calling a “major incident.” Skripal, who is a retired Russian military intelligence colonel, was convicted of spying for U.K. intelligence agency MI6 since the 1990s by providing the agency with the names of Russian intelligence agents working undercover in Europe. Russia claimed he was paid $100,000 for his spy work. Skripal was sentenced to 13 years behind bars in 2006, but was released by Moscow in 2010 as part of a swap. He was granted “refuge” in Britain.