Police to focus on places visited by Sergei and Yulia Skripal as Russia accuses UK of trying to distract from Brexit

The jarring sight of experts in hazmat suits will once again return to the streets of the cathedral city of Salisbury this week as the process of decontaminating areas cordoned off following last month’s nerve agent attack begins.

Meanwhile, Russia has ratcheted up its criticism of the UK government, suggesting British spies could have poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal as a distraction from Brexit.

Russia’s embassy in London published a series of “questions without answers”, asking why hospital staff happened to have an antidote to the novichok nerve agent used in the attempted murder.

Over the Easter holiday weekend, attractions and shops in Salisbury expressed hope that visitors would return to the city a month after the attack on the former double agent and his daughter.

The Maltings shopping centre, where the Skripals collapsed, and the London Road cemetery, where two of their relatives are buried, have been officially handed back to local police by counter-terror officials to allow the recovery to start.

'Salisbury isn't about bad news': signs of recovery a month after spy attack Read more

Decontamination was delayed so that Easter weekend visitors to Salisbury were not greeted by the unsettling sight of officers in protective suits. The process of safely reopening the sites to the public is expected to take many months.

More than 200 counter-terrorism officers continue to investigate the attack, with particular focus on the Skripals’ house on the outskirts of Salisbury.

A children’s play area and some footpaths remained cordoned off over the weekend. Police said last week they believed the Skripals first came into contact with the nerve agent from their front door.

Russia has stepped up its criticism of how the UK and its allies have acted since the attack on 4 March. The UK prime minister, Theresa May, has said the Russian state is the only plausible antagonist in the attack, and led the global condemnation, culminating in the expulsion of more than 100 diplomats.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Monday that the UK’s secret services could have been involved to distract attention from Brexit. Speaking in Moscow, Lavrov suggested the poisoning of the Skripals “could … be in the interests of the British special forces who are known for their abilities to act with a licence to kill”.

He added: “This could be in the interests of the British government, which found itself in an uncomfortable situation having failed to fulfil promises to its electorate about the conditions for Brexit.”

Lavrov also claimed the attack on the Skripals was not sophisticated, saying that if it had been, the victims would have died immediately. “If I understand correctly, sophisticated attacks usually lead to instant death,” he said.

He insisted that “serious experts” and “leaders of a number of countries” were questioning Britain’s account of the crime. “Britain, I think, will not manage to evade answering these questions … It’s only too obvious that our British colleagues have lost their sense of reality.”

Lavrov also complained that the British authorities have still not given consular access to “our citizens”, despite Yulia’s improving condition.

On Monday the Russian embassy tweeted a series of questions about the Skripal case, asking whether the UK had ever produced the novichok nerve agent said to have been used in the attack. It also asked what antidotes were administered to the Skripals and how they may have been available to medical staff treating them.