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The inquiry finds “overwhelming evidence of Russian state involvement”.
In 2018, a Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, was found along with his daughter on a public bench in Salisbury, Southern UK, both unconsious.
Both spent several weeks in hospital in a critical condition, before being discharged. A police officer, was also taken into intensive care after attending the incident, and was later discharged.
Auhtorities realised, that Skribal and his daughter had been poisoned with a military grade nerve-agent called Novichok, which was applied to the front door handle of the double agent’s home.
Four months after the double agent and his daughter were found, mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess fell ill and later died. Authorities found that her partner had found a perfume bottle in a litter bin and brought it home. Sturgess had then used the bottle to spray her wrists.
But the perfume bottle actually contained the Novichok nerve agent, and the police believes Sturgess’ death was not a targeted attack, but a result of the assassins getting rid of the bottle used to poison Skripal.
For years, one main question has still not been answered: Who authorised the poisoning?
High-level authorisation
According to Reuters, a UK public inquiry, released Thursday, has ruled that the poisoning Sergei Skripal was directed from the highest levels of the Kremlin, effectively meaning Vladimir Putin.
The inquiry, led by former UK Supreme Court judge Anthony Hughes, concluded there was “overwhelming evidence” that GRU military intelligence officers attempted to assassinate Skripal, who had previously passed secrets to Britain.
“I have concluded that the operation to assassinate Sergei Skripal must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin,” Hughes wrote.
He added that the operatives’ “astonishingly reckless” disposal of the bottle made them, their commanders and ultimate authorisers morally responsible for Sturgess’s death.
Russia has repeatedly denied involvement. The Russian embassy in London did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Diplomatic fallout
British police have charged three GRU suspects in absentia. On Thursday, the UK government imposed new sanctions on the agency and summoned Russia’s ambassador, calling the poisoning part of Moscow’s “ongoing campaign of hostile activity.”
The report argued the attack functioned not only as retribution against Skripal but as a “public statement” of Russian resolve. It follows a 2016 UK inquiry that found President Putin likely approved the killing of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in London.
Sources: Reuters, BBC, New York Times, Politico, Sky News
