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Russian businessmen under pressure in London due to Skripal case, business ombudsman says

On March 4, Sergei Skripal, former Russian military intelligence colonel, and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of a nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/.The situation with Russian businessmen in London is aggravating, business ombudsman Boris Titov said at a press conference in TASS.

According to him, Russian businessmen in London are facing pressure from the British authorities because of the situation with the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia.

Read also

Kremlin counts on Europe’s political logic and wisdom in Skripal case

"Unfortunately, the situation is aggravating for those people [representatives of Russian business] who are now in London. They receive some calls, possibly from the British authorities. They are told that they are now on the list of Russian citizens who are under threat and they will be disposed of like Skripal was," Titov said.

Earlier the ombudsman already voiced assumption that the UK government will put pressure on Russian entrepreneurs following Prime Minister Teresa May’s statement on the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and other measures against Russia. Titov compared the current situation with the Cold War period.

Skripal case

On March 4, Sergei Skripal, former Russian military intelligence colonel, and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of a nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury. Skripal was earlier convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and exchanged for Russian intelligence officers.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union.

Russia rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations. Moscow stressed that there were no programs to develop such a substance either in the USSR or in Russia. Without providing any proofs to its accusations, London expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the country and announced other anti-Russian measures. Moscow took retaliatory steps, expelling a similar number of British diplomats from Russia, ordered the closure of the British Consulate in St. Petersburg and termination of the activities of the British Council in Russia.

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