‘Miracle’ recovery of the poisoned spy
Weeks after family said he had just a 1% chance, he’s off the critical list – as the UK bans his own niece
POISONED double agent Sergei Skripal was said to be making an extraordinary recovery last night after UK doctors revealed that he was no longer in a critical condition and was ‘improving rapidly’.
The 66-year-old Russian was ‘responding well to treatment’ – despite the widespread fear he would not survive the nerve agent attack.
It follows news that his daughter Yulia was recovering so fast she would soon be discharged from hospital. Mr Skripal’s recovery raises the question about what the pair might now be able to tell the authorities about their poisoning with the Novichok toxin.
Meanwhile, there was another dramatic development last night when Britain denied a visa for Yulia Skripal’s cousin because of fears she was being used as a pawn by the Russians.
Viktoria Skripal – who, three weeks after the attack, said the Skripals only had a 1% chance of survival – was told her application to come to the UK to visit her relatives in hospital ‘did not comply with the immigration rules’.
Responding to the visa rejection, she told Sky News: ‘They [the British] must have something to hide.’
And on another fast-moving day in the poisoning scandal:
Russia claimed Britain was ‘playing with fire’ and would be ‘sorry’ for blaming the Kremlin for the poisoning as the two countries traded jibes at the United Nations;
Russian UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya even pointed to Midsomer Murders and read from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland to mock suggestions of Russian involvement;
Mystery surrounded the death of Mr Skripal’s cat and his two guinea pigs in his home.
British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the improvement in the condition of Mr Skripal was ‘great news’ and a ‘testament to the quick work’ of the NHS and emergency services. The change in the ex-spy’s condition came as a huge surprise. He and his daughter Yulia, 33, were left fighting for their lives in intensive care in Salisbury after being attacked with nerve agent Novichok last month.
Ms Skripal’s condition stabilised last week, and she released a statement on Thursday saying her ‘strength was growing daily’.
Yesterday, doctors at Salisbury District Hospital, where the pair have been treated since the March 4 attack, revealed her father is now in a stable condition.
Dr Christine Blanshard, medical director of the hospital, said of Mr Skripal: ‘He is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition. As Yulia herself says, her strength is growing daily and she can look forward to the day when she is well enough to leave the hospital.’
It was feared that Mr Skripal, who is believed to have been the main target of the attack, had less of a chance of a recovery then his daughter because of his age and underlying health. In a UK High Court judgment on March 22 allowing scientists to take blood samples from the sedated victims, Mr Justice David Williams said medical tests had indicated their ‘mental capacity might be compromised’.
Noting that Mr Skripal was in a worse condition than his daughter, the judge said he was ‘unable to communicate in any way’ and that his condition was not expected to change in the ‘near future’. Reacting to reports of Mr Skripal’s improved condition, the Russian Embassy in the UK, which has repeatedly denied the Kremlin’s involvement, tweeted: ‘Good news!’
A UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: ‘We are very pleased that both Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia are improving... Let us be clear, this was attempted murder using an illegal chemical weapon that we know Russia possesses.’
Officials also issued a statement admitting Mr Skripal’s black Persian cat Nash Van Drake was found in a ‘distressed state’ and was put down to ‘alleviate its suffering’.
‘British must have something to hide’