LONDON, August 15. /TASS/. The reports claiming that a police officer has been affected as a result of the Salisbury incident, becoming the fourth victim of the Novichok agent in Salisbury, lack credibility, the Russian Embassy in the UK stated on Thursday, commenting on the statement by the UK’s Metropolitan Police published earlier.
"First and foremost, it is unclear why we find out about this important fact only a year and a half after the incident. The name of the allegedly injured police officer is undisclosed, while earlier, the British side was glad to announce the names of persons responding to the incident, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey. They mention some "other method" of discovering the traces of the nerve agent, which, however, has only been used now. For these reasons, and taking into account the numerous contradictions in the previous statements by the British officials, the information published today lacks all credibility," the embassy’s press officer said.
The diplomat added that the UK officials continue to refuse to cooperate with Russia regarding the Salisbury incident, refusing to disclose information on the health and location of Russian citizens Sergei and Yulia Skripals. "Clearly, the reason for such behavior is that the disclosure of all details of this shady incident is not in the interest of London," the embassy stressed.
Earlier, the UK’s Metropolitan Police have confirmed that there is a fourth victim of the Salisbury incident — a police officer who arrived at the scene shortly after the poisoning of former GRU (Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate) officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, the Met Police’s press service informed on Thursday. "The officer from Wiltshire Police, who does not wish to be identified, was involved in the response to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. The officer displayed signs at the time of the incident that indicated exposure to a very small amount of Novichok. The officer received appropriate medical treatment for this at the time and returned to duties shortly afterwards," the statement by the Met Police reads.
On March 4, 2018, former Colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Sergei Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of the so-called Novichok nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a nerve agent allegedly developed in Russia, London rushed to accuse Moscow of being involved in the incident. The Russian side flatly rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that a program aimed at developing such a substance had existed neither in the Soviet Union nor in Russia.