UK has sanctioned Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency after an enquiry found that the Russian dictator is “responsible” for the death of Dawn Sturgess who was killed with Novichok by two Russian agents.
An independent enquiry found that Vladimir Putin is “astonishingly reckless” as his agents deployed nerve agent on UK soil in 2018.
Novichok which is a chemical agent was left in a discarded perfume bottle, this killed Sturgess in Wiltshire.
There was an attempted assassination attempt on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, a Nick Bailey a police officer was also poisoned in Salisbury in March 2018.
The two Russian agents put the chemical agent on Skripals’ door handle in a “public demonstration of Russian power.”
The British Foreign Office summoned the Russian ambassador Andre Kelin on Thursday and sanctions eight cyber military intelligence officers who work for the GRU, they targeted the Skripal’s.
Independent chemical weapons scientists confirmed at the time that the UK’s findings, found “high purity” Novichok was used to target the former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
While Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) does not specifically name Novichok, the UK government says its scientists have identified the agent as a military-grade Novichok nerve agent.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said, “The Salisbury poisonings shocked the nation 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 thoughts are with her family and loved ones.
“The UK will always stand up to Putin’s brutal regime and call out his murderous machine for what it is.
“Today’s sanctions are the latest step in our unwavering defence of European security, as we continue to squeeze Russia’s finances and strengthen Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “Putin and his GRU agents are an active threat to Britain’s citizens, our security and our prosperity.
“We will not tolerate this brazen and despicable aggression on British soil. That is why we are exposing and sanctioning those carrying out malign acts for Moscow and ramping up efforts to crush hostile Russian hybrid activity.”
Security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs in the Commons, the UK is “grappling with an increasingly reckless methodology”, and MI5 has recently highlighted that “Russian state actors turning to proxies for their dirty work, recruiting disposable individuals on social media platforms, instructing them via encrypted apps and then offering payment in cryptocurrencies”.
chairman Lord Hughes of Ombersley concluded in his report that was published on Thursday that the assassination attempt on the Skripal’s “must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin”.
The enquiry found that FRU agents Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov and Sergey Fedotov were “acting on instructions” from the top.
Lord Hughes said: “The conduct of Petrov and Boshirov, their GRU superiors, and those who authorised the mission up to and including, as I have found, President Putin, was astonishingly reckless.
“They, and only they, bear moral responsibility for Dawn’s death.”
The 174-page report read: “All those involved in the assassination attempt (not only Petrov, Boshirov and Fedotov, but also those who sent them, and anyone else giving authorisation or knowing assistance in Russia or elsewhere) were morally responsible for Dawn Sturgess’ death.
“Deploying a highly toxic nerve agent in a busy city was an astonishingly reckless act.
“The risk that others beyond the intended target, Sergei Skripal, might be killed or injured was entirely foreseeable.
“That risk was dramatically magnified by leaving in the city a bottle of the Novichok disguised as perfume.”
