Russian spy attack was nerve gas
Sinister twist after ‘state-sponsored poison attack’
TOXIC nerve gas was used on Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in attack which also left a cop fighting for his life, it has emerged.
A POLICE officer is fighting for life after a suspected Russian state-sponsored poison attack on the streets of Britain.
And experts believe a nerve agent used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was more than likely sprayed in their faces from an aerosol can.
The revelations came as a fellow Russian exile claimed Skripal, 66, hadn’t retired and was still working in military intelligence.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley – whose counter-terror officers are leading the investigation – said the deadly toxin had been identified by staff in the secret military laboratory in Porton Down.
He refused to reveal what it was but he said Skripal and 33-year-old Yulia had been “targeted specifically” in the assault.
It is believed to be the first time a nerve agent has been used on a target in the UK.
The attack in Salisbury, Wiltshire, left the Skripals and the police officer in comas.
Rowley said: “In summary, this is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent.
“As you know, these two people remain critically ill in hospital. Sadly, in addition, a police officer
The wider questions about how this could happen on UK soil are very grave
YVETTE COOPER
who was one of the first to attend the scene and respond to the incident is now also in a serious condition.”
Wiltshire Police chief Kier Pritchard added: “Our thoughts are with him, his family and friends.
“I recognise colleagues will be deeply affected by this and we will provide support to those affected.”
Public health officials insisted there was no wider danger to the public from the nerve agent but urged anyone who was in the vicinity on Sunday afternoon to seek help if they feel unwell.
Experts fear the toxin used in the attack could be VX. It is so lethal that a droplet of just 10 milligrams could kill a man.
Only a few labs in the world are capable of producing the nerve agent, including one in Moscow called Yasenevo – run by Russia’s foreign spy service.
Labour MP Yvette Cooper said: “For anyone to try to murder people in such a vile way is appalling, but the wider questions about how it could happen on British soil are very grave.”
Skripal had been jailed in Russia for handing state secrets to MI6 but he was pardoned in 2010 and settled in England after being part of a spy swap with the US.
It had been claimed he was retired from secret service work and lived a quiet life in Wiltshire.
But Kremlin whistleblower Valery Morozov claimed he had met Skripal several times and told Channel 4 last night he was “a military intelligence officer working in the Russian diplomatic service, in cyber-security”.
Morozov claimed Vladimir Putin could not have been behind the attack as Skripal was “a nobody” to the Russian president – and Putin has insisted the Kremlin was not behind the poisonings.
But former Army officer Bob Seely, a Tory MP, said: “In my mind, there is now no doubt this was a hit ordered by Putin – and by using something complex they’re effectively showing off. We’re now in public execution territory.”
Europol’s British boss Rob Wainwright said there are “not 101 likely offenders”.
Meanwhile, Putin accused the UK of whipping up anti-Russian sentiment and warned he would not tolerate any sanctions.
He said: “Those who serve us with poison will eventually swallow it and poison themselves.”
US president Donald Trump has stayed silent about the incident as a former Foreign Office adviser suggested the Kremlin was taking advantage of the UK’s lack of support in the US and Europe.