Kremlin accuses Britain of holding Yulia Skripal ‘ against her free will’
YULIA Skripal’s video message shows she is “scared for her life” and the threat comes from her British minders, Moscow claimed yesterday.
Pro- Kremlin media, politicians and diplomats rushed to interpret the TV appearance by the poisoned spy’s daughter.
In her message, the 33- year- old said she believed she and her father Sergei were the victims of an assassination attempt involving nerve agent Novichok.
And despite saying she hoped to return to Russia in the future, Ms Skripal said she and her father were “not ready” to accept the assistance from the Russian embassy. Britain has blamed Moscow for the poisoning – which took place in Salisbury in March – but Russian sources implied Yulia was speaking under duress.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We cannot be sure about her condition, whether there is any pressure on her, whether she made the statements of her own free will.
“Up to this point, Russia has not been provided with consular access to Yulia Skripal.”
Mr Peskov also claimed that the UK had not complied with the Vienna Convention so it was impossible to know if Ms Skripal “can be reliable and trusted”. Pro- Putin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda quoted political expert Igor Shatrov as saying the video was a “new act” of provocation against Russia choreographed by Britain, while chemical weapons expert Igor Nikulin accused the UK of “hiding something”.
Psychologist Anatoly German claimed Yulia was clearly “scared for her life” and had been reading words “edited by other people”.
A Russian diplomat from the London embassy said: “The UK is obliged to give us the opportunity to speak to Yulia directly in order to make sure that she is not held against her own will.
“So far, we have every reason to suspect the opposite.”