Russia responds to UK’s claim Moscow is responsible for ‘mysterious illness’ of spy

The government of Russia has waved aside claims by the government of the UK that Kremlin may have a hand in the mysterious illness affecting a former Russian spy who is now in critical condition.

Reacting to the allegations which it described as ‘groundless’, the spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said on Tuesday that the case of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who collapsed on UK soil last Sunday, should be investigated before such claims are made.

However, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the person of Dmitry Peskov has called the incident “tragic”.

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“But we don’t have information on what could have led to this, what he was engaged in,” he said on Tuesday.

The former Russian agent convicted of spying for Britain and a 33-year-old woman identified as his daughter Yulia Skripal were both found unconscious on a bench at a shopping centre in Salisbury in southern England before being taken to hospital.

The former Russian agent, Sergei Skripal, 66 – was granted refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a “spy swap”.

 

 

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