British News Agency: Suspects Identified in Attack on Sergei Skripal

The British news agency Press Association reported on Thursday, citing an informed source, that British police have identified several Russian citizens believed to have carried out the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter. A police spokesperson declined to comment on the report. However, Ben Wallace, the British Security Minister, dismissed the news, stating, "This is the kind of news that is based on inaccurate information and speculation." Sergei Skripal, a former colonel of Russian military intelligence who provided the names of several Russian spies to the British Security Service, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a park bench in Salisbury, England, on March 4. The British government accused Russia of involvement in the attack. Novichok, the nerve agent used in this attack, is a compound of toxic substances produced by the Soviet Army in the 1970s and 1980s. The Russian government has repeatedly denied involvement in this attack. Press Association reports that police have concluded, after analyzing CCTV footage, that several Russians were involved in the attack on Sergei Skripal. An informed source from the investigation, who was not named in the report, told Press Association, "Investigators believe they have identified the suspects involved in this attack. Investigators are confident that the suspects are Russian nationals." He added that the CCTV images were compared with photographs of individuals who entered the UK. The United States and Britain's European allies accepted the UK's analysis of the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter and, in a coordinated action, expelled a significant number of Russian diplomatic staff, an unprecedented move since the height of the Cold War. Russia retaliated by expelling a group of Western diplomats. The Russian government has repeatedly denied involvement in this attack and accused British intelligence agencies of staging the incident to escalate anti-Russian sentiment. Earlier this month, a British woman who had been exposed to a small bottle containing Novichok near Salisbury and the site of Sergei Skripal's poisoning died, while her husband, who was also poisoned, remains hospitalized. The motive for the attack on Sergei Skripal, who was handed over to Britain by Russia eight years ago during a spy swap, remains unclear. Sergei Skripal and his daughter fell into a coma due to poisoning and, after weeks of hospitalization in intensive care, partially regained their health. The British government has moved Mr. Skripal and his daughter to a secret location for their safety. Yulia Skripal told Reuters in May, "My life has been turned upside down. Our recovery has been slow and very painful."