PRESS RELEASES AND NEWS
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We are concerned about the decision of the Cabinet to “take action” amid the reports on the possible UK participation in the military operation against Syria.
Anti-Russia campaign launched by the British authorities over the alleged poisoning of former officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate Sergey Skripal and his daughter has been following the pattern that was already used to groundlessly accuse the Russian Federation in connection with the alleged attempted murder of Boris Berezovsky in London in summer 2003 and the death of Alexander Litvinenko in the UK in November 2006.
The statement allegedly on behalf of Yulia Skripal published at Scotland Yard website is an interesting read. If everything mentioned there is true we cannot but congratulate our compatriot. However, with no possibility to verify it, the publication by the Metropolitan Police raises new questions rather than gives answers.
As before, we would like to make sure that the statement really belongs to Yulia. So far, we doubt it much. The text has been composed in a special way so as to support official statements made by British authorities and at the same time to exclude every possibility of Yulia’s contacts with the outer world – consuls, journalists and even relatives.
On 10 April 2018, the inquest into the death of Alexander Perepilichny, the Russian businessman who died in 2012 near London, have resumed after a long break. It is not a coincidence that this event is synchronized with a large-scale anti-Russian provocation by the British government, baselessly accusing Russia of the "attempt on lives" of two Russian nationals: Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
Q: Can you comment on the recent media reports that Yulia Skripal has been moved to a military base?
Yesterday, the Embassy received a Note Verbale from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which states that “the United Kingdom has fully complied with its international obligations in relation to the requests of the Embassy of the Russian Federation for consular access to Ms Skripal and Mr Sergei Skripal”.
We are surprised by such a statement. Our numerous requests for consular access to Sergei and Yulia Skripal have been left without a substantial reaction on part of the British authorities. We would like to know what exactly the British side did to comply with its international obligation under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the bilateral Consular Convention, and what were the reasons for such a unfounded conclusion?
More than a month has passed since the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal and almost a month since the Prime Minister Theresa May accused Russia of this crime.
Q: According to the statement of the Medical Director at the Salisbury District Hospital Dr Christine Blanshard, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and Sgt Nick Bailey, have been exposed to a nerve agent. How does this correlate with the letter of one of the doctors of this Hospital Stephen Davies sent on 16th March to “The Times”, where he wrote that “no patients have experienced symptoms of nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with significant poisoning”?
A: Careful analysis of Stephen Davies’s letter and the statements by Dr Christine Blanshard of 29 March, 6 and 10 April shows that the Salisbury Hospital has never confirmed that Sergei and Yulia Skripal had any symptoms of chemical poisoning and that they were treated precisely for this. Notably, today Dr Blanshard has abstractly enumerated the general symptoms of such poisoning and explained how they are usually treated. At the same time, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to assure us that Sergei and Yulia Skripal are receiving high-quality medical care, again without details.
Q: How do you assess the recent reports that Yulia Skripal has been discharged from the hospital?
A: We are genuinely happy for Yulia and wish her a further recovery and rehabilitation. The Embassy wants to pay tribute to the professionalism of the medical staff at the hospital in Salisbury.
The Foreign Secretary’s article in the latest Sunday Times has become a useful summary of the accusations put forward by the UK Government against Russia in the context of the 4 March 2018 incident in Salisbury. They are based on a number of claims that, put together, have allowed the UK to declare that it is “highly likely” that the Russian state is responsible for an attempted assassination of Sergey and Yulia Skripal with the military-grade nerve agent identified as “Novichok”. Let us address Mr Johnson’s claims one by one.
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