Spy’s daughter in a safe house but Moscow claims she’s ‘abducted’
MOSCOW last night accused the British authorities of ‘abducting’ poisoned spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter as she was released from hospital.
The Russian Embassy in London also demanded evidence Ms Skripal, a Russian citizen who has rejected consular assistance from Moscow, had not been coerced by British authorities.
But Moscow – blamed for the attack in Salisbury – claimed any attempt to resettle the victims secretly would be seen as an ‘abduction’.
Yulia Skripal, 33, was believed to have been taken to a ‘safe house’ in an undisclosed location for her own protection on Monday night.
She had spent five weeks in intensive care, coming out of a coma last week, after she and her father, 66, were attacked with nerve agent novichok.
Ms Skripal, who will continue to receive care, is expected to claim political asylum in the UK.
The embassy said: ‘We congratulate Yulia on her recovery. Yet we need urgent proof that what is being done to her is done on her own free will.’ Doctors said that Mr Skripal would be discharged from hospital in ‘due course’.
Security sources have said Mr Skripal, who has British citizenship, and his daughter could be offered new identities and given a secret life in the US for their protection.
Russia has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the poisoning. But British prime minister Theresa May has said categorically that the Kremlin was responsible for the nerveagent attack in which the Skripals were found critically ill on a bench in Salisbury city centre on March 4. It was initially feared the father and daughter had little chance of surviving the effects of the nerve agent, and their ‘exceptional’ recovery has been attributed to early detection of the poison.
Dr Christine Blanshard, medical director at Salisbury District Hospital said the chemical, which attacks the nervous system by disturbing enzymes, resulted in symptoms including hallucinations and sickness.
She said: ‘We then needed to use a variety of different drugs to support the patients until they could create more enzymes to replace those affected by the poisoning.
Investigators believe the deadly chemical was smeared on the front door handle of the Salisbury home of Mr Skripal, who was said to be the main target.
Ms Skripal made her first public statement last week, saying she had been left ‘disorientated’ by the attack but her ‘strength is growing daily’.
Her cousin Viktoria Skripal yesterday
May be relocated to the US
asked for evidence her cousin had left hospital, saying: ‘They must let us see her… I find it hard to believe and can’t quite comprehend it.’
The 45-year-old also told Russian state media that her relatives will not be safe if they are relocated to the US and that her uncle ‘never wanted to go’ there because it was ‘an ideological enemy’.
However Ms Skirpal’s friend, Irina Petrova, said she had been surprised at the statements, adding: ‘Viktoria wasn’t too close to Yulia.’ Speaking to Grazia magazine, she revealed Ms Skripal had deleted links to relatives on social media accounts after the mysterious death of her brother last year.