A UK public inquiry has definitively concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal. The chair, Sir Anthony Hughes, stated the "overwhelming" evidence shows the assassination attempt by GRU intelligence officers was a "reckless" state action that also led to the death of innocent bystander Dawn Sturgess.
Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury via Novichok applied to their home door handle, an attack that also critically injured a police officer. Months later, Dawn Sturgess died after her partner found the counterfeit perfume bottle used by GRU agents to smuggle the nerve agent—a bottle discarded with what the inquiry called "astonishingly reckless" disregard for public safety. Sir Anthony Hughes concluded that such a sensitive operation "must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin," who bears moral responsibility for the consequences.
OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF RUSSIAN STATE INVOLVEMENT
Russia has consistently denied involvement, with the accused men later claiming on Russian TV to be innocent tourists. In response to the damning report, the UK government announced new sanctions against the GRU, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowing to confront "Putin’s brutal regime." The incident severely damaged UK-Russia relations, a rift that has only widened since the war in Ukraine.
The inquiry framed the poisoning not merely as revenge but as a calculated "public statement" of Russian power and resolve. This finding echoes a previous UK inquiry that held Putin responsible for the 2006 polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London, solidifying a pattern of alleged extraterritorial attacks.
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Source: REUTERS
