Many Russians believe a Western provocation was behind the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK, analysts say, as conspiracy theories about the attempted assassination flourish in the country.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's allegation that the Russian government's involvement was "highly likely" in the attempt to kill Sergei Skripal, 66, with the Novichok nerve agent on March 4 caused outrage in Russia, Dmitri Babich, a political analyst based in Moscow, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

"[The Russian public] simply does not believe that President [Vladimir] Putin or anyone in the Russian intelligence would order such a murky way of getting rid of this person - poisoning him in a public place with a highly dangerous substance," said Babich.

Skripal's poisoning was widely seen in Russia as a secret plan carried out by the British or American intelligence services in order to make Moscow look bad, he said.

Skripal and his daughter Yulia, 33, were discovered unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury, in southern England.

Both are fighting for their lives in critical condition in a hospital.

According to the Tass news agency, the speaker of Russia's parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, put the responsibility for the attack on the UK.

"The British Prime Minister Theresa May is very clumsy in trying to cast the suspicions away from the British side ... All the responsibility for the situation that involves our nationals who have left our country is on Britain," Volodin told reporters on Tuesday.

Sergei Markov, director of the Moscow-based Institute of Political Studies, was more direct and accused May of using the scandal to deflect public attention from the internal problems her government is facing, including Brexit.

"Theresa May has a lot of problems because of the failure in the parliamentary elections, Brexit, and the complicated situation with the border between Ireland and the Northern Ireland," Markov told Al Jazeera.

"So the British intelligence service probably organised the killing of Mr Skripal, sacrificing the guy who they don't need any more."

The British claim that the Novichok nerve agent was only accessible to the Russian government was untrue, he added.

"Novichok had been produced in Uzbekistan in the Soviet times and after the fall of the Soviet Union, as we know, the American intelligence services had access to this factory," Markov said.

"The American and British intelligence services have a very strong cooperation with each other, and I am sure 100 percent that the British got this Novichok nerve agent from them for this provocation."

He alleged Washington and London were working together to check Russia's global power.

Skripal was a colonel in Russian military intelligence when, in 1995, he sold information to the UK. He left the Russian service in 2000, but was arrested and sentenced in 2006 to 13 years in prison for espionage.

In 2010, Skripal was pardoned and allowed to move to London after the British and Russian governments exchanged captured spies.

On Monday, May said Skripal's poisoning was either "a direct act by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others".

London gave Moscow until the end of Tuesday to explain the attack, and said it would deliver a new statement on Wednesday.

Russia responded on Tuesday saying it would answer only if the UK gave Moscow access to the investigation material. </s> Britain's Metropolitan Police said Sunday that a woman who was exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok in Amesbury, England, has died. The substance is the same nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in an attack that occurred just miles away.

Metropolitan Police identified the woman as Dawn Sturgess, from Durrington. A 45-year-old man who was also poisoned remains critically ill, police said. British media have identified him as Charlie Rowley.

It's unclear if there is any link to the Skirpals, who were poisoned in March. Metropolitan Police said they cannot say whether the batches of Novichok were related.

Novichok was produced in the Soviet Union near the end of the Cold War. British Prime Minister Theresa May and the U.K.'s Western allies have blamed Russia for the attack on Skripal, who was convicted of spying for the U.K. and came to London in a prisoner swap with Russia in 2010.

On Sunday, May tweeted that Sturgess' death is now being investigated as a murder. She tweeted that the goverment is "committed to providing full support to the local community as it deasl wtih this tragedy."

I am appalled and shocked by the death of Dawn Sturgess, and my thoughts and condolences go to her family and loved ones. Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts of this incident, which is now being investigated as a murder. — Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 8, 2018

The Government is committed to providing full support to the local community as it deals with this tragedy. — Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 8, 2018

British security officials said earlier this week that they're working on the assumption the pair in Amesbury were not specifically targeted, but were instead innocent bystanders of the previous attack.

Sam Hobson was with Rowley when he became violently ill on Saturday.

"He was rocking against the wall and his eyes were all red and pricked and he started sweating loads and dribbling, so I had to phone an ambulance for him," Hobson recalled to CBS News.

It is possible that the couple from Amesbury stumbled across a dangerous amount of the nerve agent, maybe on instruments used in that initial attack.

Unlike most chemical nerve agents, Novichok can remain deadly for long periods of time, according to chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton Gordon.

"Most nerve agents are not very persistent and last for days, possibly weeks," he told CBS News. "We understand that Novichoks were designed to last for months, so four months down the line, is obviously still toxic." </s> British police on Sunday said a woman who was exposed to the nerve agent Novichok in Amesbury, near the southwestern town of Salisbury, had died.

London's Metropolitan Police said 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess died on Sunday in a Salisbury hospital and the case had now become a homicide investigation.

Police said Sturgess and 45-year-old Charlie Rowley, who remains in critical condition in hospital, were exposed to Novichok, the same type of nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury In March.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "appalled and shocked" by the death.

The pair was found unconscious on June 30 at a house in a quiet neighborhood of Amesbury in the county of Wiltshire, just 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Salisbury, where the Skripals were poisoned.

Police said they suspected that the two were exposed to the nerve agent through a contaminated item left over from the first attack, which the UK has blamed Russia for.

Moscow has denied the claims. The UK's allegations resulted in tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions.

Read more: Opinion: Dealing with Russia, Theresa May finds herself alone at home

Experts at the nearby Porton Down military laboratory are so far not certain if the nerve agent came from the "same batch that the Skripals were exposed to," according to the Metropolitan Police's assistant commissioner of specialist operations, Neil Basu. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the support offered by other European Union leaders on Friday when they agreed with London’s assessment that it was highly likely that Moscow was behind nerve-agent attack on a former Russian spy.

“I welcome the fact that the EU Council has agreed with the UK government’s assessment that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attempted murder that took place on the streets of Salisbury, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation,” May told reporters. “The threat that Russia poses respects no borders and it is a threat to our values. And it is right that here in the EU Council we are standing together to uphold those values.”

European Union leaders backed Britain on Thursday in blaming Moscow over a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England and recalled their envoy to Moscow in a symbolic protest. In a joint summit statement, the leaders said the EU “agrees with the United Kingdom government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible and that there is no plausible alternative explanation”.

That marked a breakthrough for Britain, which had been seeking to persuade EU leaders to condemn Russia for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter on March 4. It was the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War Two.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> A middle-aged British woman, who somehow came into contact with the Soviet-era nerve agent known as Novichok, died Sunday evening at a hospital in south England where she was being treated for exposure to the military-grade chemical weapon.

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "appalled and shocked by the death," and announced that it is now being investigated as a murder.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, was one of five people who became seriously ill after being exposed to the nerve agent in the Salisbury area.

Former Russian spy and double agent Sergei Skripal and his adult daughter, Yulia, were poisoned four months ago in what British authorities deemed a deliberate attack. After reviving from comas, both were released from the hospital to an undisclosed location. A police sergeant involved in the investigation of the March incident was also hospitalized for exposure but released shortly thereafter.

Sturgess lived in a supported-living facility that helps residents struggling with alcohol or drug addiction. Police said she was exposed to the chemical last weekend, absorbing it through her hands. She survived eight days.

Her boyfriend Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed and became sick a few hours later. Rowley remains in critical condition and in a coma at the Salisbury hospital.

Friends told the British press that Rowley would often search dumpsters for items to barter or sell.

Specialists at the nearby Defense Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, a military research facility, identified the agent used against the Skripals, Sturgess and Rowley as Novichok.

The U.N. chemical weapons watchdog confirmed the finding in the Skripal case.

The British government blamed Russia for the attack against the Skripals, and senior British officials said such an assault would not have been carried out without Russian President Vladimir Putin's knowledge.

"Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country," May said in March, "or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others."

After the Skripal attack, Britain tossed out two dozen Russian diplomats suspected of being intelligence agents. The United States, European countries and Canada followed in support, expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats.

The death of a British citizen, caused by a Soviet-era nerve agent that could have been brought to English soil by Russians, comes as President Donald Trump prepares this week to travel first to Brussels for a NATO summit, then to the London area for meetings with May and the queen, followed by a meeting with Putin in Helsinki next week.

England is also preparing to play in a World Cup quarter final match in Moscow on Wednesday. British government officials decided to boycott the games after the Skripal poisonings.

Britain has not directly pointed the finger at Russia in the case involving Sturgess and Rowley, saying the investigation, led by the Counter Terrorism Policing Network, is ongoing.

One line of inquiry suggests that after the Skripals were attacked by the nerve agent, the assailants disposed of vials, ampules or a mixing kit - or some other contaminated items - and that Rowley and Sturgess found the material and were accidentally exposed.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK Counter Terrorism policing, said 100 detectives are working as quickly as possible to identify the source of the recent contamination.

"There is no evidence that they visited any of the sites that were decontaminated following the attempted murders of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March this year," Basu said. "We are not in a position to say whether the nerve agent was from the same batch that the Skripals were exposed to."

The quiet medieval town of Salisbury is justifiable anxious about the second case of contamination and many are upset that the government repeatedly gave the "all-clear" when that may not have been accurate.

George Freeman, a Conservative lawmaker, tweeted that her death "raises quite serious questions" about the assurances from health officials that the risk to the wider public was low.

The Washington Post's Karla Adam contributed to this report. </s> (CNN) — A woman who was exposed to a Soviet-era nerve agent in Amesbury, England, died on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said.

The woman, identified by police as Dawn Sturgess, 44, was exposed to Novichok last week after handling a contaminated item. The same nerve agent was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March.

“This is shocking and tragic news. Dawn leaves behind her family, including three children, and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely difficult time,” Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, head of UK Counter Terrorism policing, said Sunday.

Charles Rowley, 45, who was also exposed to the nerve agent, remains hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

Test samples from Sturgess and Rowley show they were exposed to Novichok “after touching a contaminated item with their hands,” police said.

Detectives are working to identify the source of the contamination, police said, but a source has not yet been established. Police said there is no evidence that either Sturgess or Rowley visited any of the sites where the Skripals may have been poisoned. Skripal was discharged from the hospital in May and his daughter was released in April.

“We are not in a position to say whether the nerve agent was from the same batch that the Skripals were exposed to,” police said. “The possibility that the two investigations might be linked is clearly a key line of inquiry for police. However, it is important that the investigation is led by the evidence available and the facts alone.”

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she was “appalled and shocked” by the death of Sturgess, according to a statement released by 10 Downing Street. May also said her “thoughts and condolences” go to Sturgess’ family and loved ones.

“Police and security officials are working urgently to establish the facts of this incident, which is now being investigated as a murder,” the statement read. “The government is committed to providing full support to the local community as it deals with this tragedy.”

Sturgess originally collapsed at an address in Amesbury on June 30 and was taken to the hospital, police said. Five hours after her collapse, police said, an ambulance was called back to the same address for Rowley, who also fell ill and was taken to the hospital.

Salisbury District Hospital treated Sturgess and Rowley. The hospital’s medical director, Dr. Christine Blanshard, said the staff “worked tirelessly to save Dawn.”

A police officer sought medical advice Saturday in connection with the ongoing investigation of the nerve agent exposure, but was given the “all clear,” according to Wiltshire Police.

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid called Thursday for Russia to provide explanations after it was confirmed that Sturgess and Rowley were exposed to the same nerve agent as Skripal and his daughter.

Russia has denied any involvement in the Skripal incident. Still, more than 20 other countries have expelled Russian diplomats in a show of support for the UK.

“This terrible news has only served to strengthen our resolve to identify and bring to justice the person or persons responsible for what I can only describe as an outrageous, reckless and barbaric act,” Basu said.

Nerve agents kill by affecting the nervous system in various ways.

Novichok, which works by causing a slowing of the heart and restriction of the airways, is one of the world’s rarest nerve agents. Very few people outside Russia have experience with it.

It was developed in secret by the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s as a means of countering US chemical weapons defenses, but was revealed to the world by former Soviet scientist and whistleblower Vil Mirzayanov.

Mirzayanov told CNN that Novichok is up to 10 times as potent as VX, the weapon used to kill Kim Jong Un’s half brother, Kim Jong Nam, in 2017.

“A lethal dose … and the person will die immediately. If (the dosage) is less, (the person) will go through very tortuous scenes. They will start convulsions, and stop breathing and then lose vision, and there are other problems — vomiting, everything. It’s a terrible scene,” Mirzayanov said. </s> LONDON — Britain’s government is considering how to deal with the poisoning of an ex-spy as it awaits a Russian government response to its claim that Russian was involved.

Officials said Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May is reviewing a range of economic and diplomatic measures.

May has said it is “highly likely” Russia was involved in the nerve agent poisoning of 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia. Both remain in critical condition.

The prime minister says Russia has until the end of Tuesday to explain its actions in the case, which focuses on a former Russian military intelligence officer who was convicted of spying for Britain and then released in a spy swap.

Former foreign minister David Miliband has urged May to seek support from Europe and the United States. </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> Russia must give a reason for the nerve agent it developed in the 1970s being used on British soil - or face action, the Prime Minister has warned.

Theresa May addressed the House of Commons about the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on Sunday 4 March.

Mrs May confirmed the pair had been hit with Novichok, which refers to a string of chemical weapons developed in Russia from the 1970s onwards, and said it was "highly likely" Russia was involved.

:: Novichok nerve agent: What exactly is it?

She said: "Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal."

Mrs May said the substance must either have been used in a state attack, or have got into the hands of an individual, in which case Russia had "lost control" of the agent.

:: Poisoned spy's friend: He was lonely after his son and wife died

She added: "The Foreign Secretary has summoned the Russian Ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and asked him to explain which of these two possibilities it is - and therefore to account for how this Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury against Mr Skripal and his daughter.

"My Right Honourable Friend has stated to the Ambassador that the Russian Federation must immediately provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

"And he has requested the Russian Government's response by the end of tomorrow."

:: Spy poisoning: Diners told to wash possessions but health bosses insist risk 'very low'

The response by Russia will be considered on Wednesday, when Mrs May will give a statement on the range of options available.

Before Mrs May had left the chamber, the Russian Foreign Ministry had called her speech a "circus show" and said it was a provocation.

Since the Commons address, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has confirmed she will chair a Cobra meeting at 11.30am on Tuesday, following a Cabinet meeting.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn came under fire from his own benches after his response to Mrs May's address.

His Labour colleague Mike Gapes notably declared "all MPs must stand together", as he branded the poisoning "an act of terrorism".

In Salisbury, a Sainsbury's car park close to the bench where the pair were found collapsed on 4 March was cordoned off, with reports from shoppers that a car was to be removed.

Boards were erected to prevent the public seeing into the area.

Six miles away, in Winterslow, a vehicle recovery van was removed by police. It is believed to be one used to remove Mr Skripal's BMW a number of days ago.

:: What can Theresa May do about Russia?

Six miles away, in Winterslow, a vehicle recovery van was removed by police. It is believed to be one used to remove Mr Skripal's BMW a number of days ago.

Tensions are high in Salisbury, where many feel they are not being given enough information quickly enough to understand what is going on. Officials have said there is low concern for public health.

Alexey Navalny, leader of the opposition in Russia, who is banned from standing against Vladimir Putin, tweeted: "What British sanctions in response to the (attempted) murder of Skripalja (if Russia's involvement is proved) would be very effective and supported by public opinion within Russia?

"The answer consists of three surnames: Abramovich, Usmanov, Shuvalov."

The White House responded by calling the attack an "outrage", while Downing Street revealed Mrs May had spoken to Emmanuel Macron on Monday night, and he condemned the attack.
British Prime Minister Theresa May says she believes it is "highly likely" that the Russian government was behind an attempt to murder Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a Novichok agent.