Former Russian Spy Alleges Poison Attack in Auckland, NZ

A former Russian spy says he was poisoned in Auckland—an attack he says made all his body hair fall out and caused him to lose 30kg.

Former KGB agent Boris Karpichkov told Good Morning Britain he was walking down Queen St in Auckland when someone threw powder in his face and he became ill.

"I just was walking, carrying with my bag, and just looking [to my] left side into shopping windows, and just noticed with side vision that some person approached me. He looked like a common beggar and tried to grab my bag,” Karpichkov said.

"Next what I felt was a kind of dust thrown into my face … and the beggar just walked away.

"I walked around 1500m and then almost passed out because my head started spinning. I started sweating. Later this evening, my nose started running."

He initially thought he had the flu, but then began losing both weight and hair.

Karpichkov says he was in New Zealand for 15 months between 2006-2007, and that he’d worked as a double agent in the 90s.

The interview comes in the wake of another attack on a former Russian double-agent on British soil. Former Russian spy and informant Sergei Skripal and his daughter were attacked with a nerve agent on March 4 in southern England. Both are still in hospital in critical condition. The nerve agent has now been identified as Novichok, which was developed in Russia. Karpichkov also claimed that earlier this year he’d received threats from Russian intelligence that he, Sergei Skripal and others would be targeted.

In a statement last night, foreign minister Winston Peters released a statement saying the “New Zealand Government has grave concerns over the use of a chemical nerve agent in the United Kingdom resulting in critically serious injuries to some of those exposed.”

He goes on: “How this military-grade nerve agent was transported from Russia and released abroad is the key issue here, and warrants urgent international investigation.”

Peters stopped short of joining Britain in diplomatic action against Russia. The British government has said it believes Russia is most likely behind the attack and called for bilateral action if Russia failed to provide an adequate response.

Follow VICE NZ on Twitter.