Yulia becomes focus of UK poisoning case

Russia warns Britain over accusations as daughter of former spy Sergei Skripal breaks her silence

Yulia Skripal is emerging as the focus of attention in the tug of war being fought over multiple media by Britain and Russia to try to sway global opinion about a chemical attack in England.

The 33-year-old Russian was found a month ago collapsed on a bench in the town of Salisbury alongside her father — double agent Sergei Skripal — after being exposed to a nerve agent in what Britain claims was an attack linked to the Kremlin. Russia denies any involvement.

But as Russia told Britain yesterday that “you’re playing with fire” over the accusations, the state-run Russia 1 TV ran what it said was a recording of a phone conversation between Yulia Skripal and her cousin Viktoria Skripal.

While presenters on the station’s 60 Minutes programme repeatedly told viewers that they couldn't verify that the other person on the call was Yulia, they said Viktoria Skripal provided the recording.

Doubts have been cast on how authentic the recording is but Viktoria Skripal told the BBC that she is “100 per cent certain” she was talking to her cousin.

Soon after the conversation was played on Russian TV, Britain’s Metropolitan Police issued a statement on behalf of Yulia that said: “I woke up over a week ago now and am glad to say my strength is growing daily. I am grateful for the interest in me and for the many messages of goodwill that I have received.” She indicated she wanted to be left alone: “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.”

The war of words between Britain and Russia, however, only appears to be intensifying.

Russia told Britain at the United Nations Security Council yesterday that “you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry” over its accusations.

It was the second showdown between Russia, which requested the meeting, and Britain at the world

body since the March 4 nerve agent attack.

The attack has had major diplomatic ramifications, with mass expulsions of Russian and Western diplomats. The 15-member Security Council first met over the issue on March 14 at Britain’s request.

“We have told our British colleagues that ‘you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry’,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said during a more than 30-minute speech that attempted to poke holes in Britain’s allegations against Moscow.

He suggested that anyone who watched television crime shows like Britain’s Midsomer Murders would know “hundreds of clever ways to kill someone” to illustrate the “risky and dangerous” nature of the method Britain says was used to target Skripal.

British police believe a nerve agent was left on the front door of the Salisbury home where Skripal lived after he was freed in a spy swap. Skripal was a military intelligence colonel who betrayed dozens of Russian agents to Britain’s MI6 spy service.

“We believe that the UK’s actions stand up to any scrutiny,” British UN ambassador Karen Pierce told the Security Council.

“We have nothing to hide . . . but I do fear that Russia might have something to fear.”

At the global chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday, Russia called for a joint inquiry into the poisoning of the Skripals, but lost a vote on the measure.

“Allowing Russian scientists into an investigation where they are the most likely perpetrators of the crime in Salisbury would be like Scotland Yard inviting in Professor Moriarty,” Pierce told reporters, citing a character from Sherlock Holmes.

At the Security Council meeting, Nebenzia said Novichok — the group of nerve agent used in the poisoning — is “not copyrighted by Russia, in spite of the obviously Russian name” and has been developed in many countries.

“It’s some sort of theatre of the absurd. Couldn’t you come up with a better fake story?” he asked.

At the end of the meeting, Nebenzia read a passage from the novel Alice in Wonderland about a trial where the Queen demands the sentence first and the verdict afterward. “Does that remind you of anything?” he added.

Pierce responded: “There is another very good quote from Alice in Wonderland which is: ‘Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast’, so I think that’s the quote the suits my Russian colleague best.”