09 March 2018•Update: 10 March 2018
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
A former Russian spy and his daughter were in "serious condition" after falling ill from a suspected poisoning last Sunday in the U.K., British home secretary said Friday.
Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were admitted to hospital after being found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury.
Emergency services said in an initial statement that they believed that the two had been exposed to an unknown substance but later said a type of "nerve agent" was used in the incident.
Citing unnamed security sources, The Sun newspaper said Wednesday they were poisoned by a very rare nerve agent which only a few laboratories in the world could have produced.
Police later said they are treating the incident as "attempted murder".
"It is still very serious for the two people subject to this outrageous attack," Amber Rudd told reporters as she visited a site where detectives and forensic teams carry out their work to understand the course of events that led to the collapse of the duo.
"There will be a time to have answers," Rudd said, adding police should be allowed the “space they need to go through the area carefully".
On Thursday, police cautioned more sites in Salisbury, including the grave sites of Skripal’s wife and son who died in 2012 and 2017.
The main focus on Friday was on Skripal’s home where detectives continued their investigations with the forensic examination as experts suggested they could be subjected to the poisoning substance at home.
Local media reports said Friday around 100 military personnel have been deployed in Salisbury to help the police investigation into the incident that caused the injury of a total of 21 people who had been seen for medical treatment in the aftermath of the incident.
"The Counter Terrorism Policing Network has requested assistance from the military to remove a number of vehicles and objects from the scene in Salisbury town centre as they have the necessary capability and expertise. The public should not be alarmed and the public health advice remains the same," a police statement said.
A policeman from local force, Nick Bailey who attended the scene in Salisbury, remained in hospital in a serious condition, British media reported.
Rudd said: "At the moment our priority is going to be the incident, which is why I’m here in Salisbury today, making sure that everybody’s protected around the incident, making sure the emergency services have had the support that they need and will continue to get it.
"In terms of further options, that will have to wait until we’re absolutely clear what the consequences could be and what the actual source of this nerve agent has been."
Skripal was granted refuge in the U.K. following a 2010 spy exchange between the U.S. and Russia. He had been convicted of "high treason in the form of espionage" by a Moscow military court in 2006 and was sentenced to 13 years in prison after admitting to leaking information to British intelligence services.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson earlier in the week said at the British parliament that it would be wrong to speculate, but the MPs "will note the echoes of the death of [former KGB agent] Alexander Litvinenko in 2006."
Litvinenko, rumored to be working for British intelligence, died shortly after drinking radioactive tea in a central London hotel. Former KGB bodyguards identified as suspects in the murder have denied any involvement.
"I can reassure the House that, should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly," Johnson said on Tuesday in an urgent question session at the House of Commons.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that they had no information about the incident, but added: "Everything that happened to Skripal was immediately used to ratchet up anti-Russian sentiments."
