Overview
- Chair Lord Anthony Hughes concluded the Skripal operation was authorised at the highest level by President Vladimir Putin, assigning moral responsibility for Sturgess’s death.
- Hughes found beyond reasonable doubt that GRU operatives using the aliases Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov and Sergey Fedotov mounted the March 2018 attack on Sergei Skripal.
- The agents brought Novichok in a Nina Ricci–style bottle, smeared the toxin on Skripal’s door handle, then discarded the container later picked up by Charlie Rowley and gifted to Sturgess.
- The UK sanctioned the GRU in its entirety, designated 11 additional actors including eight cyber officers, and summoned Russia’s ambassador following publication of the findings.
- The inquiry noted shortcomings in Skripal’s risk management but said extra measures such as CCTV would not have stopped a professionally executed nerve‑agent attack, and it found Sturgess’s condition was unsurvivable.