Displaying items by tag: Novichok poisoning

Many believe the Russian government hopes that a TV interview with the two men suspected of being spies and using Novichok in the UK will generate sympathy at home (see ). Putin says they are sports nutrition salesmen, not assassins. But the risk for Russia is that the interview raises more questions than it answers and offers more details for sceptics to unpick and challenge. The two suspects accused of carrying out the nerve agent attack claimed they had travelled to Salisbury to see its famous cathedral. The BBC reported that one of them said, ‘Maybe we did approach Skripal's house, but we don't know where it is located.’

Police have launched a murder inquiry after Dawn Sturgess died following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok in Wiltshire. Her relatives are receiving support from specially-trained family liaison officers. Professor Paul Cosford said, ‘As a precaution we still advise the public not to pick up any strange items such as needles, syringes or unusual containers.’ The death of Dawn Sturgess, a British citizen on British soil, now changes the investigation to a murder inquiry, with all the diplomatic and security implications that carries as Britain blames Moscow for the original attack in March.