The Russian president Vladimir Putin es “morally responsible” of the death of Dawn Sturgessa 44-year-old British woman, who died in Salisbury, southern England, in July 2018 after unknowingly spraying herself with the potent neurotoxin Novichok.
This mother of three died from exposure to the poison after her partner found a bottle of counterfeit perfume that Russian spies had used to smuggle the powerful nerve agent to try to assassinate the double agent four months earlier in the same city. Sergei Skripaand his daughter Yulia.
The Russian secret service agents had applied Novichok to the handle of the front door of the home of Skripal, who was nearby. ANDThe former Russian spy and his daughter They managed to recover after being hospitalized. A British police officer was also left in critical condition by the nerve agent.
Presenting the end of the investigation into the death of Dawn Sturgess, the former judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Anthony Hughes, stated that the British citizen was “a completely innocent victim of the cruel and cynical acts of others.”
Hughes He said he was sure that a team of Russian military intelligence agents, the GRUhad carried out the assassination attempt on Skripal, who sold Russian secrets to Britain and moved there after a spy swap in 2010.
A murder that “should have been authorized at the highest level by President Putin,” he noted in his conclusions. Hughes, who stressed that “the evidence that this was a Russian state attack is overwhelming.” The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in the event.presenting the accusations as anti-Russian propaganda.
Hughes insisted that thes “shockingly reckless” actions They implied that those charged with carrying out the order, his GRU superiors, and those who authorized the attack, including Putin himself, bore moral responsibility for Sturgess’s death.
Although he Russian autocrat had previously denounced Skripal as a traitor, The investigation concluded that there was nothing to suggest the double agent had been in imminent danger.
Sanctions against the GRU
After the publication of this research, andThe British government sanctioned the Russian military intelligence agency GRU in its entirety.
With this sanction, no UK citizen or company can do business with that intelligence agency.
The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmersaid today that “the Salisbur poisoningsand shocked the country and today’s findings are a grave reminder of the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent lives. Dawn’s needless death was a tragedy and will forever be a reminder of Russia’s reckless aggression. “My condolences are with his family and loved ones,” he added.
“The United Kingdom will always stand up to Putin’s brutal regime and expose its murderous machinery for what it is. Today’s sanctions are the latest step in our unwavering defense of European security,” he said.