U.K. police revealed Wednesday that a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by a nerve agent in England this week, which has raised speculation that the Russian government ordered the “targeted” assassination attempt.
Breaking News: An ex-Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by a nerve agent in England, the police said, raising speculation that Moscow was behind it https://t.co/MJtm14Vnek
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 7, 2018
“This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent,” said Mark Rowley, Britain’s chief police official for counterterrorism and international security, The New York Times reported.
“This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent,” British police say after former Russian spy contracts mysterious illness https://t.co/iYttEJihg7 pic.twitter.com/G1lvi3F6as
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 7, 2018
Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, “were targeted specifically,” Rowley said. Both fell ill and are thought to be in serious condition.
Some emergency workers who responded to the scene where the two were found are now sick, and one police officer “is now also in a serious condition in [the] hospital,” Rowley said.
Skripal is a former colonel in Russian military intelligence who was convicted of selling secrets to Great Britain in 2006, and was then sent to Britain in 2010 as part of a prisoner swap.
He took ill on Sunday and his conditions continued to worsen.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack, The Times reported.
