The 33-year-old daughter of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal, visited her”Vkontakte” page – sort of a Russian version of Facebook – on the morning of March 7th, three days after the “assassination” attempt that put her allegedly in a coma, until just a few days ago. She was poisoned, according to the British government, along side her father Sergei, and according to the official version, hasn’t regained consciousness until quite recently.

There is the theoretical possibility that her page was hacked or an agency entered through her handheld device, if they were not protected by a password. Any hacking would probably be by employees of the British special services, though Russian agencies would also have an interest. There is also the curious statement by the head physician of the hospital, where she allegedly is with her father, that she came to her senses for a short time, before falling back in a coma.

Another possibility is that, in line with the statement of the head physician, she ‘came to her senses’ and actually wasn’t in a coma at all, or never ‘fell back’ into a coma.

It is especially strange that all this comes as we have news from the UK that the Foreign Office has said it is “considering Russia’s request for consular access to Yulia Skripal”.

- Advertisement -

We should keep in mind that the UK has utterly failed its obligations, legal and otherwise, to be transparent and grant access to Russia – given that Yulia is a Russian citizen. ‘Considering Russia’s request’ is itself reflective of an abrogation of international norms. It is not a ‘request’ which leaves the receiver of said request with any room for any answer than compliance. ‘Request’ is one of these legal terms which layman interprets as something other than a ‘demand’.

Is it strange that within a day of Russia putting forward its ‘request’, suddenly Yulia has recovered from her ‘coma’ and is now talking and interacting with people? Is this to prevent Russian consular authorities from confirming her condition, as they are legally obliged to do?