Daughter of Russian Spy, Yulia Skripal Doesn’t Want to Meet Russians

The daughter of the former Russian Spy, Yulia Skripal, who along with her father Sergei Skripal was poisoned in Britain has declined the offer of services from the Russian embassy in London. She was discharged from Salisbury District hospital two days before, after a month-long treatment.

 

In a statement released by Metropolitan police on behalf of her, she also conveyed that her father is still seriously ill and she also is still suffering from the effects of nerve agent used on them. She also has confirmed that she is safe under the care of special officers and requested media to have patience till she recovers fully. She also alerted her cousin Viktoria not to contact her or visit her in the UK.

In the statement, Yulia said: “I have left my father in their care, and he is still seriously ill. I, too, am still suffering with the effects of the nerve agent used against us”.

 

Doctors at Salisbury District Hospital also confirmed that 66-year-old Sergei Skripal is recovering fast and may be discharged from the hospital in a due course of time. In the beginning of March, both Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia were found unconscious in a park in Salisbury. The incident happened just a day after Yulia came to Salisbury to meet her father. It was after the incident father and daughter were recovering at the hospital.

 

After the fatal incident, UK has accused Russia of the conspiracy to kill its former agent in the UK to set an example to its other defectors. In the consequences that followed UK took tough diplomatic action against Russia by expelling Russian officials and diplomats in the UK. The US and other NATO member countries followed the UK by expelling a number of Russian diplomats from their respective countries. More than 150 Russian diplomats were expelled so far from the countries.

 

Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in the UK has released a statement accusing the UK of forcefully holding Yulia, a Russian Citizen against her will and claimed the statement released by Metropolitan police may be a fake one. According to the Russian embassy statement, there is “no possibility to verify it, it only strengthens suspicions that we are dealing with a forcible isolation of the Russian citizen”.

 

Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson also said that Russia is suspicious of statements by the 33-year-old Yulia released through Scotland Yard. She said, “We just want to be sure that Yulia Skripal is actually better, that this is for real. We have zero information from officials in London about what is going on with her. We have suspicions that she's been abducted, held against her will.”

 

Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were found poisoned by a type of nerve agent, called Novichok, which was first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The UK first confirmed the possibility of poison attack on the duo immediately after the incident. The charge that Russia has denied strongly.

 

Recently Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons after an investigation has also confirmed that a “high purity” Novichok was used in the attack. It is therefore very crucial for the UK to establish its claim against, which can be confirmed only by the testimony of Skripals.