Former spy poisoned by nerve agent

Many suspect Russia responsible

LONDON — The former Russian spy and his daughter fighting for their lives were poisoned by a nerve agent this week, British police said Wednesday, heightening suspicions that the episode was an assassination attempt by a national government, amid rampant speculation that Russia was responsible.

The development forces the British government to confront the possibility that once again, an attack on British soil was carried out by the government of President Vladimir Putin, which Western intelligence officials say has, with alarming frequency, ordered the killing of people who have crossed it.

Britain has said it will respond strongly if the Russian government is linked to the Sunday attack in southwestern England. Prime Minister Theresa May and her Cabinet ministers held a meeting Wednesday of the government’s emergency security committee to discuss the matter.

“This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent,” said Mark Rowley, Britain’s chief police official for counterterrorism and international security.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, 33, “were targeted specifically,” Mr. Rowley said. He refused to say what chemical was used, or even whether investigators had identified it.

Time and again, foes of Mr. Putin have died suddenly in Britain. In the most notorious case, Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian agent who was harshly critical of Mr. Putin, was poisoned in 2006 with a rare radioactive metal, and an inquiry later concluded that he was assassinated by Russian operatives.

The British government has been accused of being less than eager to get to the bottom of those deaths, or to hold anyone responsible, but political and security analysts say this time is likely to be different.