Russia accuses UK of fabricating Skripal poisoning: 'Five years of unanswered questions'

The Kremlin accused the United Kingdom of fabricating the Skripal poisoning as a “trial balloon” and called out London’s attempts to blame Russia for the tragedy. This comes as March 4 marks five years since Russian nationals Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and his daughter Yulia Skripal were “poisoned” in Salisbury UK. On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned London’s attempt to blame Russia for the poisoning and insisted on an objective investigation of the issue, Sputnik reported.  The Russian Ministry also stated that the United Kingdom “refused” to organise a joint probe over the incident. 

“Despite the appeals of the Russian Federation, London still refuses to jointly probe the incident. Neither has London provided any reliable information on the Skripal case, using it unashamedly in its blatant anti-Russia campaign,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Russia intends to seek the truth behind the events in question amid obvious inconsistencies in the British position,” the ministry added. A similar stance was taken by the Russian embassy in London. On Friday, the embassy released a statement on Telegram and accused the UK of fabricating the incident  "to prepare its own population and their Western allies for a future confrontation with Russia that has now assumed military-political characteristics in Ukraine”. The embassy also shared images of the two victims and questioned why their mobile phones were “switched off on March 4”. “Why have Sergei and Yulia #Skripal’s mobile phones been switched off for 4 hours on 4 March? Where were they during this period?” the embassy asked in a tweet.

Many details remain unknown: Russian Embassy

On the fifth anniversary of the incident, the Russian Embassy in London released a report in which it claimed that many details of what really happened in the Salisbury incident remain unknown. “Many details of what has really happened in #Salisbury to Sergei and Yulia #Skripal remain unknown. Many questions remain unanswered by the #UK authorities,” the embassy wrote on Twitter. In the report, the embassy claimed that since 2018, the Skripals poisoning has become one of the elements of the comprehensive anti-Russian stance of the United Kingdom. “We now realize that from the very outset, London never had any interest in establishing the truth," The Consulate wrote. “Over time, especially against the backdrop of the Russophobic hysteria provoked in the West last year, it is obvious that the events of 2018 were just a 'trial balloon' in a systematic information and psychological campaign aimed at demonizing Russia,” it added. The report also stated that the Moscow would not stop “pursuing answers” from the UK about the fate of the two Russian nationals. 

What happened in 2018? 

On March 4 2018, Sergei Skirpal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for British Intelligence agencies and his daughter Yulia Skripal nearly died due to “poisoning”. The father-daughter duo came into contact with the Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent originally developed by the former Soviet Union. While the Russian bloc completely denied the British allegations, the United Kingdom remained adamant that Moscow was behind it. Within weeks, the representatives from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom came to the conclusion that Russia was behind the attack. While there was no clear evidence that Russia was responsible for the poisoning, the conclusion was derived after noting that there were “no plausible alternative explanations”. 

On June 30 2018, a similar poisoning incident of two British Nationals was reported in Amesbury. This time the couple came in contact with a perfume bottle that contained the same poison. The woman lost her life after staying in the hospital for weeks. Following the incident, in September 2018, the British authorities charged two Russian military officers in absentia. The officers were charged with conspiracy to murder, attempted murder and the use of the Novichok nerve agent. Not only this, 20 nations including the US expelled over 153 Russian diplomats and intelligence officers following the incident. Since then, Russia has completely denied the allegations and demanded for a joint investigation with the United Kingdom, However, London never took up that offer.