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UK Inquiry Says Putin Approved GRU’s Skripal Novichok Plot

A UK inquiry places moral responsibility on Putin for the GRU’s 2018 Salisbury Novichok plot.

Overview

  • The final report finds a team of GRU officers carried out the operation, naming three officers and stating two executed the attack.
  • Commission chair Anthony Hughes concludes approval came from the highest level and says the risk to bystanders was completely foreseeable.
  • Investigators say the same disguised perfume bottle likely contaminated Skripal’s door handle before being recklessly discarded.
  • Dawn Sturgess died after spraying the bottle in July 2018, and the report characterizes her death as unnecessary and arbitrary.
  • In response, the UK summoned Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin and announced sanctions on the entire GRU.