Police in protective suits at The Maltings shopping centre following the nerve agent attack

Police in protective suits at The Maltings shopping centre following the nerve agent attack

UK POISONING VICTIM Yulia Skripal has said her “strength is growing daily”, as she released her first statement since the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Her first public comments since the March 4 attack were released shortly after Russian TV reported that she had contacted a relative in Moscow to say she and Sergei Skripal were recovering and that she would soon be discharged from hospital. Russia has appealed for the UK to issue visas for relatives to visit the Skripals in hospital in Salisbury, where they are being treated for exposure to nerve agent Novichok. Moscow has called a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the incident, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov saying the UK has “legitimate questions” to answer about what happened. But security minister Ben Wallace said it was “beyond reasonable doubt” that Russia was to blame for the attack, as the UK sought to maintain diplomatic pressure over the incident. Ms Skripal’s statement was released as, at a press conference at the Russian embassy in London, ambassador Alexander Yakovenko repeated Moscow’s denial of responsibility for the attack. “That nerve agent has been identified to being manufactured we believe in Russia and we believe that the nerve agent, the Novichok type of nerve agent, is only capable of being produced by a nation state, and then we add that to intelligence we hold, we add that to some of the police investigation that’s going on right now, and we can say that roads lead to Russia, that we are beyond reasonable doubt of the view that the Russian state is behind this.” “Last time the team was headed by the British in Syria… and that was a real problem for us.”

Mr Yakovenko said Russia had suspicions about a string of deaths of its nationals in the UK over the past decade, including businessman Nikolai Glushkov, whose body was discovered in his south London home last month. In a statement issued by London’s Met Police this afternoon, Yulia Skripal said: “I woke up over a week ago now and am glad to see my strength is growing daily.”

She said she is grateful for the interest in her wellbeing and for the messages of goodwill that she has received. I am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that I have received.”

READ MORE: Porton Down can’t verify nerve agent is Russian

In the statement released by the Metropolitan Police, she thanked healthcare workers at Salisbury District Hospital as well as “the people of Salisbury that came to my aid when my father and I were incapacitated”. And she said: “I am sure you appreciate that the entire episode is somewhat disorientating, and I hope that you’ll respect my privacy and that of my family during the period of my convalescence.”

Earlier, Russian media reported that Ms Skripal had told her cousin Viktoria that her father Sergei was “alright”, adding: “Everyone is recovering, everyone survived... No irreparable harm was done. Referring to Yulia, he said, “She might talk and converse, but what we don’t know is if she will go back to where she was before the event, not just about cognition, but there’s other aspects that could be affected, like mobility, problems with mental state, anxiety, depression, there are so many unknowns.”

Britain said the improving health of the Skripals is “a tribute to the hardworking and talented National Health Service staff in Salisbury who have provided outstanding care.”

After the doctor’s statement Friday that the elder Skripal’s health also had improved, the Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom tweeted, “Good news!”

Russian officials have accused Britain of denying them access to Yulia Skripal. The British government says it relied on a combination of scientific analysis and other intelligence to conclude that the nerve agent came from Russia, but the Foreign Office on Wednesday deleted a tweet from last month that said Porton Down scientists had identified the substance as “made in Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for cybersecurity, Alexander Krutskikh, mocked the contradictory statements, saying Thursday that “the latest developments around the Skripal case indicate the days of this British Cabinet are numbered.”

Moscow has called a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to press its case.
Viktoria Skripal, a cousin of Yulia, states the poisoned pair suffered food poisoning rather than an attack with a nerve agent. Hours later she is denied a visa to visit her relatives in hospital.