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Skripal poisoning case

Kremlin aide says London’s 'contrived' evidence on Skripal case 'means nothing'

The information provided by London about the Salisbury incident is incomprehensible, while the names of the suspects have been concocted by the UK and mean nothing to Russia, says the Kremlin aide

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Moscow is not involved in the assassination attempt on the Skripals at any level from top to bottom and it regards these charges against Russian officials as impermissible, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media.

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"We heard or saw two names, but these names mean nothing to me personally, just like you, I believe," he said. Ushakov noted that Scotland Yard had admitted in a statement that these names were contrived. "I do not understand why that was done and what signal the British side is sending. That is difficult to comprehend," Ushakov stressed.

The United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said earlier on Wednesday that it was ready to charge two Russian nationals, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, with conspiracy to murder the Skripals. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said commenting on the issue on Wednesday that these name meant nothing to Russia.

Skripal case

According to London, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal, 66, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia, 33, suffered the effects of an alleged nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow rejected all accusations, saying that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia ever had any program aimed at developing such a substance.

Chief Executive of the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down Gary Aitkenhead later said that British experts had been unable to identify the origin of the nerve agent used in the attack on the Skripals.

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Foreign policy Skripal poisoning case

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