Russia takes protests of being blamed for U.K. poisoning to UN
In her first public comment since she and her father were poisoned by a nerve agent in England, the daughter of a Russian ex-spy said Thursday from a hospital that she’s recovering quickly, but the whole ordeal has been “somewhat disorientating.’’
Yulia Skripal, 33, said in a statement released by British police that her “strength is growing daily’’ and she expressed gratitude to those who came to her aid when she and her father were found unconscious on a bench a month ago.
“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,’’ she said.
The hospital in the English city of Salisbury confirmed that Yulia’s health has improved, while her 66-year-old father, Sergei Skripal, remains in critical condition.
The British government has alleged the pair were poisoned with a chemical weapon developed by the Soviet Union in a plot likely directed by Moscow to kill the elder Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain.
The poisonings of the father and daughter on March 4 have caused an international furor. At a United Nations Security Council meeting Thursday called by Russia, Russia’s U.N. ambassador claimed that Russia that was the victim of a hasty, sloppy and ill-intentioned defamation campaign by Britain and its allies. Moscow assumes “with a high degree of probability’’ that the intelligence services of other countries are likely responsible for the incident, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. “Everything confirms this is a co-ordinated, very well-planned campaign’’ intended “to discredit and even delegitimize Russia.’’ Nebenzia did not name the intelligence services that Russia suspects, but said their goal is to accuse Moscow of using “a horrible, inhumane weapon, of concealing the arsenal of this substance,’’ of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention, and putting in question Russia’s “role not only in finding a solution in Syria, but anywhere else.’’ Adding to the intrigue was a recording aired Thursday by Russian state Rossiya TV of a purported phone call between Yulia Skripal and her cousin in Russia. In the call, Yulia Skripal allegedly said she and her father were both recovering and in normal health, and that her father’s health was not irreparably damaged.
Rossiya TV said Skripal’s niece, Viktoria, who lives in Moscow, gave it the purported recording, although the broadcaster said it could not verify its authenticity.
Moscow has steadfastly hammered away at Britain’s account of what befell the Skripals on March 4, especially the claim that their exposure to a Novichok nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union meant the attack was carried out by Russia.