Poisoned daughter of spy out of hospital

LONDON — Yulia Skripal, the daughter of the Russian double agent who was poisoned in a nerve agent attack alongside her father, was discharged from hospital and taken to a secure location, her doctors said Tuesday.

Yulia Skripal, 33, recovered more quickly than her father, the 66-year-old Sergei Skripal, who is awake and responding well, said Christine Blanshard, medical director of the district hospital in Salisbury in southeast England where the attack took place. She was released late Monday.

Alongside the Skripals, a Salisbury police officer who was a first responder to the park bench where the couple were found, was also treated and released last month.

“All three had been exposed to a nerve agent. In the past weeks both Sergei and Yulia have received round-the-clock care,” Blanshard said. “I won’t go into great detail about the treatment, but nerve agents attach themselves to certain enzymes in the body. This results in hallucinations and sickness.”

Sergei Skripal remains in the hospital, but his doctors say his condition is “improving rapidly.”

“Although he is recovering more slowly than Yulia, we hope that he too will be able to leave hospital in due course,” Blanshard added.

The Russian Embassy in London tweeted, “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.”

Yulia Skripal is likely being protected by British security forces.

British investigators and Prime Minister Theresa May say the Skripals were attacked by a Novichok-class, military-grade nerve agent of the type developed by the Soviet Union and Russia.

Russian officials have denied any wrongdoing in the case.