Yulia Skripal ‘conscious and talking’
BRITAIN: The daughter of Sergei Skripal may lead police to their would-be assassins, after reports that she has regained consciousness for the first time since being struck down in the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Yulia Skripal was ‘‘conscious and talking’’, according to reports yesterday, raising hopes that she may recover enough to be able to give the police information about the attack.
Such information could prove invaluable in the hunt for the suspected Russian hit squad that targeted the former Russian spy, who was convicted by the Russians for selling information to MI6 and came to Britain in 2010 following a spy swap.
Sergei Skripal, who collapsed with his daughter on a bench close to the River Avon in the city after leaving a restaurant, remains in a critical but stable condition.
It is understood that doctors may have used a drug called pralidoxime, an antidote to organophosphate pesticides and chemicals, to treat the pair.
Salisbury District Hospital said Yulia Skripal was ‘‘improving rapidly’’ and she was no longer in a critical condition.
Dr Christine Blanshard, medical director at the hospital, said: ‘‘She has responded well to treatment but continues to receive expert clinical care 24 hours a day.
‘‘I want to take this opportunity to once again thank the staff of Salisbury District Hospital for delivering such high-quality care to these patients over the last few weeks. I am very proud both of our frontline staff and all those who support them.’’
The Skripals’ relatives in Russia had expressed fears that she was close to death and may even have died. Her improvement will be welcomed both by her family and detectives, who will be hoping that she recovers to the extent that she can respond in some way to questions about the hours leading up to the attack.
Yulia Skripal, 33, who lives in Moscow, was in Britain visiting her father, and it may be that she can at some stage give an indication of whether they were followed or if she noticed any suspicious activity around her father’s house, where police say the largest concentration of traces of the nerve agent was discovered.
Detectives earlier said the pair were probably poisoned by a nerve agent that had been applied to Sergei Skripal’s front door.
It also emerged this week that Elena Yakovlevna, Skripal’s mother, has not been told of the attack.
The 90-year-old’s family have managed to keep her away from one of the most widely reported stories in the world, fearful that news of her son’s fate would prove fatal to her health.
Victoria Skripal, a niece of Skripal, said: ‘‘Our priority is to protect our grandmother so that she does not hear anything. She will not know until the very last moment.
‘‘She will know when this situation is somehow resolved – that is, if there is a logical end. If the story ends badly, we will tell her that they fell ill.’’
Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning, something fiercely denied by the Kremlin. In turn, Russia has suggested that British intelligence officers may have been involved in the attack.
Moscow is facing increasing global isolation, with at least 26 countries expelling a total of more than 130 of its suspected spies.
Russia yesterday announced the expulsion of more than 150 diplomats, including 60 Americans, and said it was closing the US consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation.
US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said there was ‘‘no justification’’ for the move.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the expulsions followed ‘‘brutal pressure’’ from the US and Britain that forced their allies to ‘‘follow the antiRussian course’’.