U.K. spy attackNerve agent was placed in former spy’s BMW ventilation system: U.S. intel

Published 19 March 2018

The former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, may have been exposed to a deadly nerve agent through his car’s ventilation system, ABC News reports. The two remain in critical condition in hospital after being exposed to the nerve agent novichok in Salisbury, in the U.K., two weeks ago. ABC News reported that intelligence officials had said the “dusty” substance used was likely placed in the ventilation system of the BMW Skripal was driving.

The former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, may have been exposed to a deadly nerve agent through his car’s ventilation system, ABC News reports.

The two remain in critical condition in hospital after being exposed to the nerve agent novichok in Salisbury, in the U.K., two weeks ago.

ABC News reported that intelligence officials had said the “dusty” substance used was likely placed in the ventilation system of the BMW Skripal was driving.

The development comes as counterterrorism police renewed their appeal for sightings of Skripal’s burgundy BMW 320D saloon car, registration HD09 WAO, in Salisbury on the morning of 4 March.

Neil Basu, a Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, said: “We are learning more about Sergei and Yulia’s movements but we need to be clearer around their exact movements on the morning of the incident.” Scotland Yard and other British security agencies would not comment on the ABC News report.

ABC also reported that intelligence officials had said that up to thirty-eight individuals in Salisbury had beenhaving been affected by the nerve agent, but that the full impact was still under investigation and that more victims were expected to be identified.

ABC News notes that this is not the first time U.S. media outlets have offered updates from American intelligence officials about terrorism incidents in the United Kingdom. This practice has not been welcomed by the British authorities, which temporarily suspended intelligence sharing with the United States in the wake of U.S. media reports, based on U.S. intelligence leaks, which followed the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017.

On Sunday, the Sun on Sunday reported that Yulia Skripal’s boyfriend was an active Russian secret service agent. The newspaper reported that she had worked in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.