In April 1997, Vechernyaya Moskva, one of the most popular newspapers in Moscow, published an article on a former Russian intelligence agent, Boris Karpichkov.
The article was illustrated with a picture of Karpichkov’s KGB identity papers, with the crosshairs of a sniper’s rifle superimposed. It warned that the ex-KGB major was wanted by Interpol, faced interrogation by the Russian authorities and was being hunted by organised crime groups.
It was reported that his location was unknown, but the stark conclusion was that in the near future Karpichkov was likely to be “liquidated”.
More than two decades later, the veteran Latvian-born agent is alive and living in a two-bedroom flat in London. He is a vociferous critic of the Russian regime. Having fled to Britain in 1998, he remains fearful for his life.
While Putin faces international condemnation over the invasion of Ukraine, Karpichkov, 63, says the police and security services have failed to provide the required protection for Russia’s dissidents, critics and defectors.
“There is no way that anyone would consider defecting to the UK from Russia,” he said. “The British authorities have proved they are not able to protect anyone who needs and deserves to be protected.
“I expect to be killed and I can’t protect myself. My fate can only be described as a dead man walking.”
A British court found in September 2020 that Karpichkov was likely to be a “threat to the Russian intelligence services” after working in Russia and Latvia as a double agent. It concluded that he had received death threats that were considered credible, and which experts concluded were likely to be from Russian interests.
Karpichkov is particularly angered because the assumed name he has been living under and his address were disclosed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to the Latvian authorities in unsuccessful extradition proceedings. He believes Russia now knows where he and his wife live.
A death threat in Russian, which he says was sent to his London flat last month, is now under police investigation. It warned: “No matter how much you change your residence, you cannot avoid your punishment. Traitors like you have no place on earth. Wait, death is on the way for you.”
It has been shown that Russian death squads can reach into the UK. British law enforcement agencies found Russian agents killed the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died from poisoning at a London hospital in November 2006. Two men from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU, were accused by the UK of attempting to murder former KGB agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by poisoning them with the novichok in Salisbury in March 2018.
Other Putin critics have died in the UK in mysterious circumstances. A London coroner ruled in April last year that businessman Nikolai Glushkov was strangled in his London home in March 2018. A dog lead was wrapped around his neck to simulate the appearance of a suicide. In March 2014, a coroner recorded an open verdict on Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who died in March 2013. He was found in the bathroom of his Berkshire mansion with a ligature around his neck.
Karpichkov was born in Latvia in February 1959, when it was part of the Soviet Union. After training as an engineer, he was recruited to the KGB in July 1984, training at its academy in Minsk, Belarus. He was taught the skills of a Soviet agent, including weapons training and unarmed combat.
He worked as a senior operative, targeting the activities of American and Canadian intelligence officers. After Latvia gained independence in August 1991, Karpichkov continued working for Russia. He was tasked by the new domestic security agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), with infiltrating Latvia’s new security services with informers.
Karpichkov also investigated the links between Latvian officials and organised crime. He says documents were transported secretly across the Russian-Latvian border in suitcases to be given to his Russian handlers.
He refused to keep working with the FSB in early 1995 and says he was threatened by his superiors and put under surveillance. Then he was arrested by the Latvian authorities in March 1996 on claims that he was involved in the embezzlement of funds from the collapsed bank Olympia. He denied any involvement and fled the country after being placed under house arrest.
Initially seeking refuge in Russia, he considered that he was at risk from both the Russian and Latvian intelligence agencies, as well as from organised crime groups. He arrived with his wife and family in the UK on 21 June 1998 and was granted indefinite leave to remain, becoming a British citizen in July 2010. He says he was not debriefed by the British security services because he is from Latvia, which is considered a friendly state.
In July 2019, the Latvian authorities issued a European arrest warrant for his extradition over the embezzlement case. The court was told that during the legal exchanges between the UK authorities and Latvia, Karpichkov’s home address and alias were provided to the Latvian authorities.
Karpichkov said the Russian state still had significant contacts in Latvia, which he believes it has exploited to obtain his details.
In September 2020, district judge Vanessa Baraitser at Westminster magistrates court concluded there was support for his claim that the Olympia bank prosecution was initiated to force him to hand over valuable information. She said in the judgment: “There is evidence to support Mr Karpichkov’s claims that he has dangerous enemies in Russia who would wish for his silence … I am satisfied that he has received recent death threats likely to have emanated from Russia.” The application for extradition was rejected.
A police assessment of his security in May 2021 found there was a “possible” risk to his life and the consequences would be “catastrophic” and fatal. He has since moved home, but the death threat he received in January was sent to his new London address.
Karpichkov lives in social housing and has been unsuccessful in his attempts to be rehomed with his wife in a new location. He said: “I feel betrayed because there has been a total failure to protect me. I am now left devastated and desperate.”
An NCA spokesperson said: “The NCA shares intelligence with trusted law enforcement agencies in line with the processes and legislation that govern information sharing. The NCA is unable to comment on individual cases where there are ongoing legal discussions.”
