London’s reluctance to share information on the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal has led Moscow to strongly suspect that it was the actual perpetrator of the crime, the Russian ambassador to Britain said.

The poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury triggered the worst diplomatic conflict between London and Moscow in years. The UK accused the Russian government of using a military grade nerve agent against the former spy and, according to Moscow, is stonewalling all attempts by Moscow to learn details of the ongoing investigation into the incident.

Moscow is increasingly convinced that Britain is the real culprit behind the attack, according to Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko.

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“We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” Yakovenko told Russia’s NTV channel. He clarified that Russia has no direct proof of this suspicion, but the behavior of the British government constitutes strong circumstantial evidence in support of this theory.

The diplomat added that London had gained both short-term and long-term benefits from the poisoning. The short-term gain is that Theresa May’s government managed to spin this story to whip up support both at home and in Europe, while sidelining its failures to negotiate more favorable terms for exiting the European Union, Yakovenko said. The long-term benefit is that it improved London’s standing in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia.

“The Britons are claiming a leading role in the so-called containment of Russia. To win support from the people and the parliament for this containment of Russia, a serious provocation was required. And the Britons may have done a really savage one to get this support,” he said.

The ambassador said that details of British investigations into the deaths of several high-profile people with Russian ties have been kept from the public. These include former Russian intelligence officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, fugitive Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky and Russian whistleblower Aleksandr Perepilichny. He said he hoped there would be a public disclosure of relevant facts in relation to the Skripal case.

“I am sure Russia will not allow the Britons to escape the legal field. They will have to give answers,” he said.

Skripal case: How UK ‘explains’ why Russia is to blame in 1-minute VIDEO https://t.co/Dx0uqP0LrEpic.twitter.com/7UfX2gAwVr — RT (@RT_com) March 30, 2018

After the poisoning in Salisbury, the UK convinced some of its allies to follow its lead by expelling Russian diplomats. The US was the most receptive to the call, kicking 60 Russians out of the country, which dwarfed the UK’s expulsion of 23 people. European countries that chose to show solidarity with London expelled between one and four diplomats each. Ukraine expelled 13.

Russia hit back with reciprocal expulsions of foreign diplomats. It also demanded that Britain downsize its diplomatic mission in Russia to that of Russia in Britain, affecting over 50 jobs.

Like this story? Share it with a friend! </s> MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The United Kingdom cannot make secret information on the Skripal case and London will bear responsibility for this provocation, Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko said in an interview with Itogi Nedeli (Weekly Results) program on NTV Television Channel on Sunday.

"I believe that this time, like in the case with [Alexander] Litvinenko, like in the case with [Badri] Patarkatsishvili, [Boris] Berezovsky, [Alexander] Perepilichny, [Nikolai] Glushkov, efforts will fail to make this information secret. I am sure that Russia won’t let Britons out of the legal field and the Britons will have to bear responsibility," the ambassador said.

Russia is currently "choosing the methods" and determining which way to follow, Yakovenko said.

According to the ambassador, there are "serious suspicions" that the provocation was staged by the British intelligence services.

"They are refusing to cooperate with us and are not giving us any facts. These realities naturally prompt us to conclude that this is a provocation made by the special services," the diplomat stressed.

Skripal case

Relations between Moscow and London have deteriorated sharply over the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, who was earlier sentenced in Russia for spying for the UK, and his daughter Yulia, who on March 4 were found unconscious on a bench near the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury. Police said they had been exposed to a nerve agent.

Later, London claimed that the toxin of Novichok-class had been allegedly developed in Russia. With that, the UK rushed to accuse Russia of being involved, while failing to produce any evidence. Moscow refuted the accusations that it had been involved in the incident and points out that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia has ever done research into that toxic chemical.

Without providing any proof, London expelled 23 Russian diplomats and suspended all planned high-level bilateral contacts. In response, Moscow expelled the equal number of UK diplomats. In addition, Britain’s consulate in St. Petersburg was ordered to be closed and the British Council’s operations in Russia were terminated. </s> Russia's foreign minister has accused Britain and the United States of spreading "lies and disinformation" about the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England.

Britain has said Russia is likely behind the March 4 nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. Moscow has vehemently denied any involvement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced the British accusations on Monday as a "mad and horrible provocation." He insisted that Moscow had no motive to attack Skripal, who was released from a Russian prison during a 2010 spy swap.

Lavrov mocked Britain's claim that there is no plausible alternative explanation for the poisoning. He says British intelligence agencies could have been involved and alleges the case helped distract public attention from the British government's difficult Brexit negotiations. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May told lawmakers on Monday that it was "highly likely" Russia was behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern city of Salisbury.

If evidence eventually proves Moscow directly ordered the poisoning, May said the government would consider the attack an "unlawful use of force" on British territory.

Read more: British diners told to wash possessions after ex-spy poisoning

What May said:

The Russian government either ordered the attack, or it had lost control of the military-grade, Russian-produced chemical nerve agent Novichok that was used in the attack.

May said Moscow had until Tuesday evening to explain its Novichok program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The government has summoned the Russian ambassador in London to explain whether Moscow was directly responsible for the attack.

If there is "no credible response" by the end of Tuesday, the government would discuss retaliatory measures with the British Parliament.

Britain cannot have a normal relationship with Russia. "We will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil," May said, adding: "There can be no question of business as usual with Russia."

Read more: Spy assassinations — The top 5 deadly poisons

What were the reactions?

"We have full confidence in the UK's investigation and its assessment that Russia was likely responsible for the nerve agent attack that took place in Salisbury last week," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "We agree that those responsible — both those who committed the crime and those who ordered it — must face appropriately serious consequences.

"It appears that it clearly came from Russia. Whether it came from Russia with the Russian government's knowledge is not known to me at this point," Tillerson added.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, dismissed May's speech as a "provocation," according to Russian news agencies. She added: "It is a circus show in the British parliament."

The Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that British media and politicians were using the poison attack to discredit Moscow ahead of the 2018 soccer world cup in Russia. The British, it said, "cannot forgive Russia for obtaining the right to host the 2018 World Cup in an honest competition."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the use of military-grade nerve agent was "horrendous and completely unacceptable." He added: "This incident is of great concern to NATO."

Read more: UK promises retaliation for 'brazen' chemical attack on Russian ex-spy

The attack: Sixty-six year old Sergei Skripal was found with his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, slumped on a bench in the southern English town of Salisbury on March 4. The unconscious pair was rushed to hospital where they remain in critical but stable condition. The nerve agent used to poison the pair also affected a policeman who found them. The officer is conscious but also remains in critical condition.

Who is Sergei Skripal? Skripal was a colonel in Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU, before he was found guilty of betraying Russian agents to MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service. In 2010, he arrived in Britain as part of a spy swap deal between London and Moscow.

A history of political poisonings Sergei Skripal Sergei Skripal, a 66-year-old former Russian spy, was found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the British city of Salisbury after he was exposed to what police said was an unknown substance. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation "tragic" but said, "We don't have information about what could be the cause, what this person did."

A history of political poisonings Kim Jong Nam The estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un was killed on February 13, 2018 at Kuala Lumpur airport after two women allegedly smeared the chemical nerve agent VX on his face. In February, a Malaysian court heard that Kim Jong Nam had been carrying a dozen vials of antidote for the deadly nerve agent VX in his backpack at the time of the poisoning.

A history of political poisonings Alexander Litvinenko Former Russian spy Litvinenko had worked for the Federal Security Service (FSB) before he defected to Britain, where he became a journalist and wrote two books of accusations against the FSB and Putin. He became ill after meeting with two former KGB officers and died on November 23, 2006. A government inquiry found he was killed by radioactive polonium-210 which it alleged the men put in his tea.

A history of political poisonings Viktor Kalashnikov In November 2010, doctors at Berlin's Charité hospital discovered high levels of mercury had been found in a Russian dissident couple working in Berlin. Kalashnikov, a freelance journalist and former KGB colonel, had 3.7 micrograms of mercury per litre of blood, while his wife had 56 micrograms. A safe level is 1-3 micrograms. Viktor reportedly told German magazine Focus that "Moscow poisoned us."

A history of political poisonings Viktor Yushchenko Ukrainian opposition leader Yushchenko became sick in September 2004 and was diagnosed with acute pancreatis caused by a viral infection and chemical substances. The illness resulted in facial disfigurement, with pockmarks, bloating and jaundice. Doctors said the changes to his face were from chloracne, which is a result of dioxin poisoning. Yushchenko claimed government agents poisoned him.

A history of political poisonings Khaled Meshaal On September 25, 1997, Israel's intelligence agency attempted to assassinate Hamas leader Meshaal, under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two agents sprayed a poisonous substance into Meshaal's ear as he walked into the Hamas offices in Amman, Jordan. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful and not long afterward the two Israeli agents were captured.

A history of political poisonings Georgi Markov In 1978, Bulgarian dissident Markov was waiting at a bus stop after a shift at the BBC when he felt a sharp jab in his thigh. He turned to see a man picking up an umbrella. A small bump appeared where he felt the jab and four days later he died. An autopsy found he'd been killed by a small pellet containing a 0.2-milligram dose of ricin. Many believe the poisoned dart was fired from the umbrella.

A history of political poisonings Grigori Rasputin On December 30, 1916, mystic and spiritual healer Rasputin arrived at Yusupov Palace in St Petersburg at the invitation Prince Felix Yusupov. There, Prince Yusupov offered Rasputin cakes laced with potassium cyanide but he just kept eating them. Yusupov then gave him wine in a cyanide-laced wine glasses, but still Rasputin continued to drink. With the poison failing, Rasputin was shot and killed. Author: Louisa Wright



Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> The British Foreign Office has confirmed the content of a document with “proof” of alleged Russian involvement in the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter.



They say that it fully reflects the position of British prime minister Theresa May.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously stated that the chief executive of Porton Down Defence Science and Technology Laboratory had “amount to admitting” that the UK was developing combat poisoning substances.

In a statement, they now say that analysis of the Skripals’ case “shows that the UK authorities are not interested in finding out the motives or those responsible for the crime in Salisbury and suggests that the British intelligence services are involved in it.”

“The behavior of the British authorities raises many questions. The UK population is itself kept in the dark about the key moments of this announced serious threat of the incident, the total number of victims is unknown,” the statements reads.

The ministry has also accused the British lab in Porton Down of “hushing up information” in the wake of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.

“Information about the fact that the day before the poisoning of Skripals, the center together with the British military conducted exercises, during which the methods of combating chemical and biological contamination were practiced.”

In addition to this, “throughout the world, London has been developing a campaign to create an absolute presumption of Russia’s guilt,” a statement on the website of the Russian ministry reads.

According to Moscow, London is unable to protect Russian citizens on its soil.

“A blatant example of this is, in particular, the poisoning of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, the death under unclear circumstances of Russian businessmen Badri Patarkatsishvili and Alexander Perepilichny, the mysterious “suicide” of Boris Berezovsky and the strangulation of his business partner Nikolai Glushkov and, finally, the assassination attempt of Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal.”

The ministry has emphasized that it would consider the poisoning of Skripals as an “assassination attempt” on the lives of Russians if the opposite was not proved by London.

The statement follows a statement made by the Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom, that earlier accused Gary Aitkenhead, the chief executive of Porton Down Defence Science and Technology Laboratory of “amount to admitting” that the United Kingdom was developing combat poisoning substances including those that had been used in the so-called “attack” on Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Last week, Aitkenhead said that no dangerous chemical could leave “four walls” of the laboratory because of “the highest levels of controls, of security around the work” that is being done there.

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the content of the reported document with London’s “proof” of alleged Russian involvement in the poisoning of Skripal, saying that it “completely aligns” UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s stance on the case.

“We are grateful to the Russian MFA for giving this document more prominence. It is a useful run down of the Russian authorities’ reckless pattern of behaviour over the last few years, including the Salisbury incident,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that London and Washington had ignored Moscow’s request to send it a printed document related to the Skripal case.

In her Facebook page, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has commented on the Kommersant daily’s publication on what she said has prompted the expulsion of Russian diplomats in connection with Skripals’ poisoning.

“This is [UK Prime Minister] Theresa May’s fail. The largest manipulation of the world public opinion has been revealed, and British authorities are involved in it. Just assess it. The decisions on a state’s responsibility in a chemical attack were made on the basis of six pictures,” she wrote.

Earlier, she told Russia’s NTV Channel that the US and the UK had refused to heed Moscow’s call to deliver it a printed document pertaining to the Salisbury incident.

“The document, which is a sort of London’s explanations on what happened in Salisbury, has never been published by the media,” Zakharova said.

She added that the Russian Foreign Ministry had repeatedly tried to obtain the document, sending relevant requests to its British and American colleagues.

“We did so publicly but in response we received zero information,” she pointed out.

Zakharova’s remarks came a few days after more than 100 Russian diplomats have been expelled by about 20 European countries as well as the US, Canada and Ukraine over Moscow’s alleged involvement in the March 4 poisoning of former Russian intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain’s Salisbury. </s> Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said the UK could be behind the former spy's poisoning, accusing the West of playing "children's games". Lavrov told a press conference on 2 April that there were "other explanations" over the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in Salisbury last month. "Experts tell us that it may well be beneficial to the British special services, who are known for their ability to act with license to kill," he said. "The attack could be beneficial to the ... </s> Rachel is a Verdict reporter covering global business, finance, and politics. You can reach her at rachel.dobbs@verdict.co.uk

The Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom has told the press that the attack on former double-agent Sergei Skripal is “so complicated…we need the wisdom of Hercule Poirot to solve the mystery”.

Alexander Yakovenko went on the offensive today at a press conference in London, after 23 Russian diplomats were expelled from the country following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former double agent, with the nerve agent novichok.

Yakovenko hit back at British allegations that Moscow was behind the attack, saying that Britain has provided no proof of this and that all has been seen is a “hysterical newspaper campaign”.

He suggested that the United Kingdom:
• Had stores of the nerve agent prior to the attack; refused Russia access to their citizen Yulia Skripal
• Deliberately withheld information on the investigation into the attack from Russian authorities
• Ignored Russian requests for details on the recent murder of Russian businessman Nikolai Glushkov

Yakovenko repeatedly stated that Russia had nothing to do with the attack, which he called “a horrible act, the poisoning of the Russian people”.

Yakovenko also said that the United Kingdom has a “bad record of violating international law and misleading the international community” including invading Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya under false pretenses and supporting a coup in the Ukraine.

Yakovenko went on to say that the expulsion of Russian diplomats constituted a violation by the British Government of its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

He also refused to commit Russia to accepting the verdict of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), who are investigating the nerve agent. Instead he said that he would listen to their findings, and then might ask for more evidence.

The ambassador attacked Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for his comments yesterday, likening the World Cup in Russia to Hitler hosting the Olympics in 1936.

Asked if he would resign if Russia was found to be responsible for the Skripal attack, Yakovenko dodged the question, instead responding with a list of questions Russia had for the UK.

He said Russia still didn’t know:
• What hospital Sergei and Yulia Skripal were in and and what their condition was?
• Why the policeman who was also exposed to the nerve agent was recovering and they were not?
• Did the Skripals receive an antidote? (Yakovenko later clarified that the Russians assumed the Skripals had an antidote because they assessed that, without one, they would be dead).
• What exposure did medical staff have to the nerve agent and, if it was not dangerous for them, why could consular staff not visit them too?

Yakovenko also stated that he found it “extraordinary” that British MPs were encouraging cyberwarfare against Russia, and suggested that the response was the result of Britain trying to find a new role in the world after Brexit.

In a cross-over with the other main news story of the last fortnight, Yakovenko denied any Russian contact with Cambridge Analytica, after Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow asked about a photo showing Yakovenko with the data-communications CEO at a polo match. </s> It appears that either the British government can't keep its lies and proof-less accusations straight or something far more nefarious is at play.

Following headlines (below) that British government scientists admitted they couldn’t tell where the poison - identified by the UK as A-234, also known as Novichok, used in the Salisbury poisoning of the Skripals - came from, undermining a number of claims to come out of Westminster, The UK Foreign Office denies claiming the nerve agent used in the Salisbury poisoning of the Skripals came directly from Russia, despite admitting it sent a tweet saying exactly that, and Boris Johnson making the same claim.

The UK Foreign Office has admitted it deleted the tweet which directly stated that the nerve agent came direct from Russia.

London has directly accused the Kremlin on at least three occasions of being behind the chemical attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

As RT notes, bizarrely, the Foreign Office denies Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claimed the novichock “categorically” came from Russia, despite a recorded interview clearly showing he did.

The Foreign Office has not yet deleted a tweet in which the UK's ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, reiterates the accusation of Moscow being behind the poisoning.

The row between Russia and Britain is reaching boiling point as officials from the OPCW meet Russian representatives on Wednesday.

As we detailed previously, following an embarrassing admission by a UK government scientist that conjured up images of Colin Powell shaking a test tube, Russia is demanding the UK apologize for rushing to judgment and blaming Russia for the attack on former double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

During an interview with reporters in Ankara, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said the UK has no proof Russia was behind the poisoning and that "their theory is not confirmed in any way because it can't be confirmed." Russia has persistently denied playing any role in the poisoning.

He also suggested the UK own up to the fact that it jumped to conclusions about Russia's involvement, and admit its mistake to its EU allies.

"The British Foreign Office, which accused President Putin, the Prime Minister of Great Britain need to look their EU colleagues in the eye" over what was said

The diplomatic row caused by the poisoning has since escalated into a full-blown geopolitical crisis, with 28 countries and Nato expelling Russian diplomats, while Russia has retaliated by expelling their diplomats.

Gary Aitkenhead, the head scientist at the UK's Porton Down military laboratory facility, told Sky News that his team was unable to trace the origins of the military grade novichok nerve agent that the UK claims was used in the attack.

"We were able to identify it as novichok, to identify that it was military-grade nerve agent," Aitkenhead said. "We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions you have come to." The chief scientist said that establishing the Novichok's origin required "other inputs," some of which are intelligence based and which only the government has access to. Aitkenhead added: "It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured."

Russia has demanded that the UK hand over a sample of the nerve agent for it to analyze, while the UK demanded that Russia proffer an explanation for how the nerve agent ended up outside Russia.

But after more than a month of the mainstream media refusing to conduct more than a surface level survey of the "facts", this is perhaps the best indication yet that the UK has no evidence that the Skripal poisoning - like Brexit and Trump's election - is also Russian President Vladimir Putin's fault. </s> Russia's Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, says that London's reluctance to share information on the March 4 poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal has led Moscow to suggest that London authorities actually perpetrated the crime.

“We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” Yakovenko told Russia's NTV channel - adding however that Moscow had no direct proof, but that the UK's behavior constitutes strong circumstantial evidence in support of their theory.

Yakovenko also suggested that London had gained several benefits from the poisoning - both short and long-term, in that Theresa May's government is capitalizing on the event in order to boost support at home, while burying headlines over its failures to negotiate better Brexit terms. The long-term benefit, according to Yakovenko, is that London is able to elevate itself into a primary position in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia.

Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury using what the UK says was a "military grade" nerve agent developed by Russia from the "Novichok" family of toxins - however Russia's representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told state-run television in mid-March that the U.S. and U.K. developed the military-grade nerve agent used in the attack.

"There has never been a ‘Novichok’ research project conducted in Russia," Shulgin told the Rossia-1 television station, as the The Moscow Times first reported. "But in the West, some countries carried out such research, which they called 'Novichok,' for some reason.” According to military experts at the British Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, the substance used in the attack is part of the "Novichoks" family of nerve agents. This roughly translates into "newcomer" in Russian. Speaking at the 87th session of the OPCW Friday, Shulgin suggested the “unfounded” accusations from the West should be redirected at themselves. “[It] may very well be that the substance used [in Skripal’s poisoning] may have come from the stocks” of the U.S. and U.K. -Newsweek

“Our British colleagues should recall that Russia and the United Kingdom are members of the OPCW which is one of the most successful and effective disarmament and non-proliferation mechanisms," Shulgin said. "We call upon them to abandon the language of ultimatums and threats and return to the legal framework of the chemical convention, which makes it possible to resolve this kind of situation."

Yakovenko also notes that the British authorities have insisted on withholding information from the public regarding the deaths of high-profile people with Russian ties, such as former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko, Georgian tycoon-turned-fugitive Badri Patarkatsishvili, Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, and Russian whistleblower Aleksandr Perepilichny.

Following the Skripal poisoning, the UK and several of its allies responded by expelling Russian diplomats - with the Trump administration kicking 60 Russians out of the country, and the UK expelling 23. Russia returned "fire" with the expulsion of several foreign diplomats, and a demand that Britain scale back its diplomatic mission in Russia - affecting over 50 jobs.

The UK still hasn't explained why out of the myriad of ways to kill a human being, Russia would use Novichok - certainly knowing it would directly implicate them in Skripal's death.
In an interview, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko calls the poisoning a provocation and states that the Russian government suspects British intelligence agencies of being behind the incident.