All news

Skripal’s mother, niece set to apply for UK visa by year-end

According to earlier reports, Skripal’s mother wanted to visit her son in the United Kingdom, but the visa application process for her was postponed for health reasons

YAROSLAVL, October 16. /TASS/. The 90-year-old mother of former GRU Colonel Sergei Skripal and his niece Viktoria are set to apply for a British visa by the end of the year, Viktoria Skripal told TASS on Tuesday.

According to earlier reports, Skripal’s mother wanted to visit her son in the United Kingdom, but the visa application process for her was postponed for health reasons. Earlier this spring, the UK government rejected several visa applications from Viktoria Skripal, who wanted to visit her relatives after the Salisbury incident.

"Most likely, we will submit the documents before the New Year holidays," Viktoria Skripal said. "[Skripal’s mother] Yelena Yakovlevna said she would also like to visit the United Kingdom, but only if I accompany her. She does not know the entire story so far."

On March 4, former Russian intelligence officer and convicted British spy Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia, aged 33, were allegedly poisoned with a nerve agent, according to British investigators. Later, London stated that this agent was designed in Russia and blamed Moscow for being behind the incident based on this assumption. The Russian side refuted all accusations, saying that neither the Soviet Union, nor Russia had any programs for developing this agent.