Anyone who thought the Sergei Skripal poisoning might be a relatively short-lived international incident, after which something like pre-existing normality would reassert itself, knows differently now. It is a month since Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury by a novichok nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. A week later Theresa May told parliament that it was highly likely that the Russian state was directly or indirectly responsible. The British view was then backed by the main political parties and most of Britain’s major allies. Diplomats were expelled on both sides. But the scandal refuses to die down and the questions surrounding the Skripal case continue to proliferate.

Much but not all of this is because Russia’s response has been so determinedly aggressive, energetic and defiant. Far from hiding away until the embarrassing dust settles, Russia has decided to fight an attacking propaganda and disinformation war on all fronts. President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, have gone out of their way to parade a variety of grievances about the British charges, shamelessly turning Tuesday’s official UK scientific confirmation of the use of novichok into an apparent admission that the agent could not be sourced to – and thus might not be from – Russia. After the international Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons voted in the Hague by 15 to six against a Russian move for its scientists to be involved in a “joint” investigation. Russia pronounced that its move had succeeded because 17 countries had abstained. And on Thursday it was Russia, not Britain, that was due to take the matter to the United Nations security council.

Earlier on Thursday the Russian ambassador had given a marathon press conference full of the now familiar Russian disdain and innuendo against the British government. Even while the ambassador was speaking, his account littered with facetious red herrings, other events moved forward too. Russian TV broadcast a recording of an alleged phone call between Ms Skripal and her cousin Viktoria (presumably this was provided by the Russian intelligence service). Simultaneously, the Metropolitan police published the first public statement from Ms Skripal since she regained consciousness following the attack.

This will not be the end of the matter. Russia clearly wants to get access to Ms Skripal and to get her back home. It is already using her cousin’s wish to visit to force the issue further. Meanwhile, next week, the OPCW will issue its own report on the nerve agent samples that Britain has provided in line with agreed procedures. This week’s bogus Russian claims in the Hague seem certain to be repeated.

Russia is engaged in a long game of sustained diplomatic and political disruption. Its policy towards the liberal democracies is to undermine and divide. It is, as we have said before, a troll state. The united response to the Skripal poisoning has set its strategy back. Yet breaking alliances remains the name of the Russian game. It must be matched with a western long game, based on evidence (which a post-Iraq public will expect to see), law and patient alliance-building. This is one reason why Boris Johnson, with his indiscipline and his addiction to colourful language, is so often unhelpful for the British case. It may be tempting for the UK to hit back with the same kind of intemperate contempt that Russia is displaying. But that temptation must be resisted at all costs. This is not just a conflict of state against state, but one of liberal values against their negation.