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Yulia Skripal ‘does not want to give any more interviews’ — London police

On Wednesday, Skripal went on television for the first time since her poisoning in Salisbury

Yulia Skripal Dylan Martinez/Pool via AP

Yulia Skripal

© Dylan Martinez/Pool via AP

LONDON, May 24./TASS/. Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned in Salisbury together with her farther, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal, doesn’t want to give any more interviews, Scotland Yard police sources told TASS on Thursday.

"She does not want to give any more interviews," Scotland Yard said in reply to a corresponding question.

Earlier, TASS sent a request to the British Foreign Office, but was referred to either the Skripals themselves or medics or police officers who were dealing with their case. Police in Wiltshire, where Salisbury is located, also recommended TASS to enquire with Scotland Yard on the issue.

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"We receive a huge amount of interview requests, and that is why she has chosen a pooled interview that was broadcast yesterday ", its source told TASS. Scotland Yard, which in effect had made a statement on behalf of Yulia Skripal, stressed that the London police does not represent her. "We can’t speak on her behalf," it said.

On Wednesday, Yulia Skripal went on television for the first time since her poisoning in Salisbury. In an interview with Reuters she said she continued to progress with treatment and intended to return to Russia.

"In the longer term I hope to return home to my country," the news agency quoted Yulia as saying.

Yulia Skripal also said that she was "grateful for the offers of assistance from the Russian Embassy but at the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services."

Skripal poisoning

On March 4, former Russian military intelligence Colonel Sergei Skripal, 66, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and was later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench near the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, the UK. Police said they had allegedly been exposed to a nerve agent.

London immediately accused Russia of being involved, but failed to produce any evidence. British Prime Minister Theresa May rushed to blame Russia for "unlawful use of force" against her country. She identified the alleged substance used in the attack as the so-called Novichok nerve agent, allegedly developed in the former Soviet Union. Subsequently, the UK expelled 23 Russian diplomats and announced other restrictive measures against Moscow. Russia has flatly rejected these allegations pointing out that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia had any programs to develop that substance.

In response, Moscow expelled the equal number of UK diplomats. In addition, Britain’s consulate in St. Petersburg was ordered to be closed and the British Council’s operations in Russia were terminated.

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