Colonel-General Igor Korobov, the man responsible for coordinating the response to the Salisbury spy poisoning in March this year, has died, according to Russian TASS news agency. The 63-year-old was said to have suddenly fallen ill after a stern confrontation with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The dressing down from Putin was said to be over the “deep incompetence” shown in the Salisbury poisonings and other operations.
Igor Korobov held the position of Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation after an eminent career in the military.
The spy’s predecessor, Igor Sergun, suddenly died in January 2016, with Russian media explaining the “circumstances surrounding his death were unclear”.
The news of Korobov’s sudden death comes after two GRU heavies were exposed by investigative journalists, Bellingcat.
The identities of the two men who travelled to Salisbury for the botched poisoning attempt were revealed as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
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The men, who claimed they were visiting the “wonderful” English city of Salisbury for its impressive cathedral, gave an extraordinary account to Russian state media, claiming they had decided to leave the city due to snow and slush.
It later emerged they had been complicit in the failed assassination attempt of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
Those in charge of the catastrophic blunder were denounced for their “deep incompetence” and “infinite carelessness” during a Moscow meeting.
They were taunted “Why didn’t you just wear Budenovka hats?” in reference to the Communist military uniform adopted after the Russian Revolution.
Explosive revelations of Putin’s fury were disclosed by Russian journalist Sergey Kanev.
Mr Kanev – who now lives in self-imposed exile for fear of arrest in Russia – is noted for his secret service connections.
Shortly after the Putin blasting, Mr Kanev predicted the crisis would lead to major sackings within the GRU.
He said: “It is quite likely Korobov will be fired before the end of this year and that Leningrad (St Petersburg) born General Sergey Gizunov will take his post.
“Gizunov is called ‘eyes and ears’ of Vladimir Putin in military intelligence.”
In a separate development, it emerged Russian spooks were expelled from Holland in April after they attempted to hack into the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW, which was looking into the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
The spies were found with cyber-hacking equipment in the back of their car.
In April this year both Sergei and Yulia Skripal fell ill after they were exposed to the nerve agent Novichok.
Mr Skripal is a former Russian double agent and the UK – supported by western backers – was quick to assign the blame for the attack on Russia.
Both Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia recovered from the disturbing ordeal.
But in July this year a separate couple were taken to Salisbury District Hospital after they were exposed to the poisonous substance.
Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she came into contact with the deadly concoction in a discarded perfume bottle found in the city centre.
Ms Sturgess’ partner, Charlie Rowley, had found the bottle in Queen Elizabeth Gardens.