I don’t need any help from Russia or my cousin Viktoria, says Yulia Skripal
THE daughter of the former Russian spy who was poisoned in the Salisbury nerve agent attack last night spoke out to make clear she does not want the help of the Russian Embassy, nor her cousin.
Yulia Skripal, 33, said she had been made aware of her country’s offer of assistance but said that “at the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services”.
It comes after the Russian Embassy suggested yesterday that the secret resettlement of Ms Skripal and Sergei Skripal, her father, upon his release from hospital would be seen as an “abduction”.
She issued her response through Scotland Yard last night as she also revealed she is still suffering from the effects of the Novichok used on her and her father nearly six weeks ago, which at one point left them both critically ill.
She also thanked the staff at Salisbury District Hospital, which she left on Monday, for their “obvious clinical expertise” and for their “kindness”.
She said: “I have left my father in their care, and he is still seriously ill. I too am still suffering with the effects of the nerve agent used against us. I find myself in a totally different life than the ordinary one I left just over a month ago, and I am seeking to come to terms with my prospects, while also recovering from this attack on me.
“I have specially trained officers available to me, who are helping to take care of me and to explain the investigative processes that are being undertaken. 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.
“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. “Most importantly, I am safe and feeling better as time goes by, but I am not yet strong enough to give a full interview to the media, as I one day hope to do. Until that time, I want to stress that no one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves.”
Russia accused Britain of issuing a prepared statement that was “clearly drawn up in such a way as to support the official statements of the British authorities”.
Ms Skripal also distanced herself from comments made by Viktoria, her cousin, who last week said she had been denied a visa to visit her family in the UK. She also appeared to cast doubt over the British Government’s version of events.
Ms Skripal said: “I thank my cousin Viktoria for her concern for us, but ask that she does not visit me or try to contact me for the time being. Her opinions and assertions are not mine and they are not my father’s.”
Police have transferred Ms Skripal to a secret location after doctors said she and her father, 66, had responded “exceptionally well” to treatment. Col Skripal is also expected to be discharged soon.
The pair had been widely predicted to die after they were exposed to Novichok, which the Government says came from the Russian military’s chemical weapons programme.
Meanwhile, the international chemical weapons watchdog handed its report on the nerve agent attack to the UK Government after completing its investigation, the Foreign Office disclosed last night. An executive summary of its findings is expected to be published today at midday.
But the Russian state and its backers in the heavily controlled media have repeatedly questioned Britain’s account of events, and a Russian television crew were yesterday thrown out of Salisbury District Hospital.
Vitaly Khanin and a cameraman from REN TV were stopped by security guards and asked to delete their film after being caught wandering through corridors and attempting to question staff. In the footage, the reporter comes across a closed door behind which, he claims, Col Skripal is being treated. He tells viewers that a sign on the door says “Don’t enter, stay back”, when in fact the sign on the door simply reads: “Danger, slippery floor surface.”
The hospital condemned what it described as “appalling behaviour” by the TV crew, accusing them of trespassing and harassing staff.