British defense chief says Russian “attack” led to woman's death
The residue of the poisonous chemical Novichock, which Russian intelligence agents used in early March in Salisbury, U.K., in an assassination attempt of a former Russian spy and his daughter, poisoned two residents of the town, killing one of them. “The simple reality is that Russia has committed an attack on British soil which has seen the death of a British citizen,” Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said.
of the Skripals, who have recovered after being exposed to Novichok in early March.
Britain has called on Russia to answer questions about where the nerve agent came from. Peskov tried to turn the tables, saying Russia is “deeply worried by the continuing presence of these poisonous substances on British territory.”
This poses “a danger not only for the British, but for other Europeans,” he said.
British authorities say Sturgess and Rowley, 45, were found unconscious on 30 June at a house in Amesbury, less than twenty kilometers from Salisbury.
Murder investigation
The death of Sturgess is now being investigated as a murder.
“Her death has only served to strengthen the resolve of the investigations team,” Basu said, adding that a priority for police is to find any container that may be the source of the Novichok.
More than 100 police are trying to search all areas where Sturgess and Rowley had been before they became ill. The search is focused on their homes and a park in Salisbury.
He said no one else in the area has shown any sign of Novichok poisoning.
Prime Minister Theresa May said on 8 July that she was “appalled and shocked” by the death of Sturgess, and a spokesman for May said that Britain’s interior minister will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on 9 July.
Basu called the death of Sturgess “shocking and tragic news.”
“This terrible news has only served to strengthen our resolve to identify and bring to justice the person or persons responsible for what I can only describe as an outrageous, reckless, and barbaric act,” Basu said on 8 July.
In the immediate aftermath of Sturgess’s death, Russian officials and state media appear to have refrained from the snark and sarcasm that permeated their public responses to British accusations of Russian involvement in the Skripals’ poisoning.
Russian state television reports on 9 July nonetheless continued to cast doubt on the British investigation.
One senior Russian official
