UK calls on Russia to explain latest nerve gas attack

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01:04

Britain called on Russia to give details about the novichok nerve agent attack on a former double agent and his daughter after two British citizens were struck down with the same poison. Moscow meanwhile is accusing London of "dirty political games" and urging London to apologize.

The two Britons, a 44-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, are critically ill after an apparently chance encounter with the poison near the site of the March attack on ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Britain accused Russia of poisoning the Skripals with novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military during the Cold War, in what is the first known offensive use of this kind of chemical weapon on European soil since World War II.

A police officer stands at a cordon by a play park at Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury, southern England, July 5, 2018‍. /VCG Photo

Russia, which is currently hosting the World Cup, has denied any involvement in the March incident and suggested the British security services had carried out the attack to stoke anti-Moscow hysteria.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said London would have to apologize for its handling of the two poisoning cases and its accusations against Moscow.

"We urge British law enforcement not to get involved in dirty political games that certain powers in London have already begun, and instead finally cooperate with Russian law enforcement in their investigations. I am sure that for everything that Theresa May's government has stirred up, this government and its representatives will have to apologize to Russia and the international community," she said during a briefing.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not know who Ben Wallace was but said Russia had offered Britain its assistance in investigating the nerve agent attack and had been rebuffed.

Britain is foolish if it believes Russia staged a new nerve agent attack in England in the middle of the soccer World Cup, Russia's embassy to the Netherlands wrote on social media on Thursday.

Screenshot of tweet of Russia's embassy to the Netherlands

"How dumb [do] they think [Russia] is to use 'again' so-called 'Novichok' in the middle of the FIFA World Cup...The show must go on?" Russia's embassy to the Netherlands wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Sergei Zheleznyak, deputy speaker of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, told state TV that the new poisoning incident in Britain looked like an attempt to spoil England soccer fans' positive perception of Russia.

Zheleznyak said Britain needed to whip up hysteria to distract attention from what its intelligence services were doing.

Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the incident after tests at the Porton Down defense laboratory confirmed the nature of the substance, which Britain says is a Soviet-made military grade nerve agent.

"It's the same nerve agent. Whether we can ever tell if it's the same batch will be up to scientists to determine," said Neil Basu, head of counter-terrorism police.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills gives a statement to the media outside the Bowman Center in Amesbury, north of Salisbury, southern England, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The priority for the investigation team now, is to establish how these two people have come into contact with this nerve agent," he said.

Basu said there was no evidence to suggest that the man and the woman, named locally as Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, "were targeted in any way."

The two fell ill on Saturday in Amesbury, close to where former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed on a bench on March 4 in an incident that sparked a bitter diplomatic crisis with Russia.

"The possibility that these two investigations might be linked is clearly a line of inquiry for us," Basu said.

'Low risk' to public

A general view shows the main entrance to Salisbury District Hospital in Salisbury, southern England, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

But Basu said there was no evidence the man and the woman had "recently visited any of the sites that were decontaminated" after the poisoning of the Skripals.

"This remains a low risk to the general public," he said.

"We're satisfied that if anyone was exposed to that level of nerve agent by now they would be showing symptoms."

The 44-year-old woman collapsed first and an ambulance was called at around 0915 GMT, while the 45-year-old man fell ill later and an ambulance was called at 1430 GMT.

Police had initially assumed that the two had consumed a contaminated batch of drugs.

Sam Hobson talks to the media outside the Amesbury Baptist Center in Amesbury, southern England, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

But samples from both patients were sent to Porton Down on Monday "due to concern over the symptoms the man and woman were displaying," Basu said.

Both are still in a critical condition and are at Salisbury District Hospital – the same facility where the Skripals were treated.

Local man Sam Hobson, 29, who was a friend of the pair, said he saw the man fall ill.

"He was sweating loads, dribbling, and you couldn't speak to him, he was making funny noises and he was rocking backwards and forwards," Hobson said.

"It's like he was in another world."

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he would be chairing an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday on the case and a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said she was being "regularly updated" on the situation.

Helplines for residents

A police officer stands at a cordon at Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury, southern England, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

In Salisbury, local residents said they were "shocked" that their quiet area was again hitting the headlines.

"I was shocked to hear that something had happened so soon after the last contamination scare," said 70-year-old Patrick Hillman.

The Skripal poisoning "really affected business and life in general in Salisbury" in recent months, he said.

"It is a bit of a scare," said John Reid, 84.

Police launched two helplines for those worried about possible contamination.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters