Global Geopolitical Series: Russia accuses UK of staging Skripal attack to rally people against it

Russia is accusing the United Kingdom of staging the Sergei Skripal poisoning, which escalated many folds since the incident took place on 4th of March in order to rally the British people against Russia.

On March 4th, Skripal and his daughter Yulia were rushed to a hospital after they were found unconscious at a park in Salisbury. It was later reported that the father and daughter had come into contact with an obscure nerve agent. UK government officials said the Skripals were attacked by "Novichok," a powerful Soviet-era chemical nerve agent used by the military. Though the British government did not provide evidence that linked Russia to the crime but was confident from the beginning there could be no other "reasonable explanation" for the attempted assassination since the nerve agent was first manufactured in the former Soviet Union. In response to the alleged attack by Russia, the United Kingdom expelled 23 Russia diplomats from the country.

The UK allies showed solidarity with Britain that resulted in the expulsion of more than hundred Russian diplomats. Washington alone expelled 60 Russian diplomats including 12 diplomats, who were working at Russia’s UN mission at the UN headquarter in New York. Russia responded in kind by expelling hundreds of foreign diplomats who were working in Russia.

Russian ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko said that London’s reluctance to share information on the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal has led Moscow to strongly suspect that the UK was the actual perpetrator of the crime, “We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence”. The diplomat added that London had gained both short-term and long-term benefits from the poisoning. The short-term gain is that Theresa May’s government managed to spin this story to whip up support both at home and in Europe while sidelining its failures to negotiate more favorable terms for exiting the European Union. The long-term benefit is that it improved London’s standing in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia, Mr. Yakovenko added.