Skripal tells of ‘slow, painful’ recovery

Yulia Skripal admitted she was “lucky to have survived” the nerve agent attack on her and her father and spoke of her determination “in the longer term” to return to Russia.

In her first televised appearance, Skripal, 33, said the attempted assassination had taken a “devastating” toll and described the clinical treatment to keep her alive as “invasive, painful and depressing”.

Skripal read in Russian a prepared statement in which she described her recovery as “slow and painful”. A scar on her throat, presumably from a tracheotomy to help her breathe following the attack, was visible in footage.

The message was an important signal to the Russian people that Skripal remains in the UK, under the protection of the British authorities and of her own free will.

The Kremlin, which denied any involvement, accused the British Government of holding her captive and has demanded access to her. As recently as the weekend, President Vladimir Putin insisted that if Russian-manufactured, military-grade Novichok nerve agent had been used in the attack, then Skripal and her 66-year-old father Sergei would have been killed.

In her statement, filmed at an undisclosed location in London, Skripal said: “I came to the UK on the 3rd of March to visit my father, something I have done regularly in the past. After 20 days in a coma, I woke to the news that we had both been poisoned.

“I still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that both of us were attacked. We are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination. Our recovery has been slow and extremely painful.

“The fact that a nerve agent was used to do this is shocking. I don’t want to describe the details but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing.” Skripal thanked “the wonderful, kind staff at Salisbury hospital”, describing it as “a place I have become all too familiar with”.

She also praised passers-by who rushed to her aid when she and her father collapsed on a bench.

Skripal added: “My life has been turned upside down as I try to come to terms with the devastating changes thrust upon me both physically and emotionally . . . In the longer term I hope to return home to my country.”