What have I done to annoy Vladimir Putin?

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If I was truly paranoid, I might be getting the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a personal grudge against me! You are probably aware of the spat that is currently being played out between Russia and the UK following the use of a nerve agent in the attempted murder of a former spy and his daughter in the cathedral city of Salisbury. The British government believes that Russia is directly responsible for this act and has expelled 23 diplomatic staff from the Russian Embassy. The Russians have responded by expelling the same number of British diplomats from Moscow but have gone further by closing our consulate in St Petersburg and demanding that the British Council cease all operations in Russia. And that is where I come in! The British Council is the UK's "UNESCO" in that it acts as a cultural ambassador in many countries throughout the world, being especially strong in English language teaching. Back in 1976-8 I worked for the British Council's Libraries Department, this being my first professional job after leaving library school. I spent part of the summer of 1977 working at the British Embassy in Moscow, setting up a library in the Cultural Attache's section of the Embassy. The idea was that a printed catalogue of the library's contents would be sent to teachers across Russia so that they could request items by mail. At that time the British Council's staff in Russia consisted of just one person, who doubled as the Deputy Cultural Attache. I left the British Council in 1978, so I don't know what happened to my library, but presumably the British Council's activities have expanded somewhat in the intervening 40+ years. At least, there must be enough going on for Vladimir Putin to appreciate that shutting the BC down in Russia would have an impact on the British Government. Seeing that I was there right at the beginning, and helped to start the ball rolling, I have to say that I take this as a personal affront! But it gets worse! Four years after leaving the British Council I took up a new post as a college librarian - in Salisbury, Wiltshire. I lived and worked in the city for five years, and I therefore know the place extremely well. The above photo is one that I took in July last year on a visit back to Salisbury. It is of the Maltings, which is where the Russian spy and his daughter were found collapsed on a park bench. My wife and I sat on one of those benches to eat ice creams back in July - it might even have been the same one. So what is Vladimir up to? Back in 1977 he was a KGB man, with a brief to keep an eye on foreigners. Was he keeping an eye on me? I know that I was monitored as I made my way through the streets of Brezhnev's Moscow - men in dark coats would raise an arm if I looked in their direction, just to let me know that they were there. But if he is out to get me he has somewhat missed his target! For one thing, I have not worked for the British Council for 40 years. Maybe he got wind that I was working at a library in Salisbury? If so, he is again wrong with his timing - I left that job in 1987! Also, I worked at the Technical College, not the city library that is a stone's throw from the Maltings. You'll have to try harder than that, Vladimir!