Yulia Skripal Declines Russian Help but Embassy Doubts Statement

Global chemical weapons watchdog confirms the use of nerve agent

Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned in Britain last month along with her father, a former Russian spy, has said she did not wish to take up the offer of assistance from the Russian embassy in London, according to Reuters.

In a statement issued on her behalf by British police late on Wednesday, Skripal said her father, Sergei, remained seriously ill and she was still suffering from the effects of the military-grade Novichok nerve agent used against them.

The attack, blamed by Britain on Russia which has denied any involvement, has led to one of the biggest diplomatic crises between Russia and Western nations since the Cold War.

“I have access to friends and family, and I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can,” Yulia Skripal said.

“At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them.”

The Russian embassy in London, which has repeatedly asked for consular access to Yulia Skripal and has accused the British authorities of abducting her, said it doubted very much that the statement genuinely came from Yulia.

“The text has been composed in a special way so as to support official statements made by British authorities and at the same time to exclude every possibility of Yulia’s contacts with the outer world – consuls, journalists and even relatives,” it said in a statement.

“To sum up, the document only strengthens suspicions that we are dealing with a forcible isolation of the Russian citizen.”

Yulia Skripal was discharged from a hospital in the English city of Salisbury on Monday, where, she said, she was treated “with obvious clinical expertise and with such kindness”. She was taken to a location which has not been made public.

Skripal said she was not yet strong enough to give a media interview and she said a cousin who had spoken to Russian media did not speak for her or for her father.

Meanwhile, the lethal poison that struck down Skripal and her father have been confirmed to be a highly pure Novichok nerve agent, Reuters reported the global chemical weapons watchdog as confirming on Thursday, backing UK’s findings.

Testing by four laboratories affiliated with the global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed Britain’s findings and showed that the toxic chemical was “of high purity”.

The OPCW did not explicitly name Novichok in its published summary, say where the poison may have come from or assign blame for the attack. But it did confirm Britain’s analysis about the substance that had been used.

“The results of analysis by OPCW-designated laboratories of environmental and biomedical samples collected by the OPCW team confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical,” the published summary said.

Testing by OPCW laboratories, the details of which were kept confidential, also found the substance used in Salisbury to be of “a high purity”, which supports the British government’s assertion that a state was involved.

Responding to the summary, Moscow said that it had reason to think the report was part of a British operation to discredit Russia. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would not believe any conclusions about the poisoning unless Russian experts were given access to the investigation.