Moscow wants role in investigation into poisoning of former spy and his daughter

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Vladimir Putin has demanded that Russian officials be given consular access to Yulia Skripal and that Russian law enforcement agencies take part in the investigation into her poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent.

Skripal and her father, Sergei, a former double agent who was released from a Russian prison in a spy swap with the UK in 2010, were poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in March.

British officials have blamed Russia for the attack, saying it was the first use of a military-grade nerve agent in Europe since the second world war.

The aftershocks of the incident continued to be felt on Thursday when London’s ambassador to Moscow said that British consulate in St Petersburg had closedamid ongoing diplomatic strains between the two countries.

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During a nationally televised question-and-answer session on Thursday, Putin said: “We would very much like to be given access to our citizens, to Yulia in this case, and to be given the opportunity to take part in the investigation.”

Putin also claimed that both Skripal and her father would have died if a military-grade nerve agent was used.

The pair were found unconscious and critically unwell after the poisoning. Doctors were concerned they could die or suffer irreversible brain damage. Both eventually recovered to the point where they could be discharged from hospital.

Sergei Skripal has not spoken publicly about the attack. In a statement in May, his daughter asked for privacy.

The recovery had been “slow and extremely painful”, she said, adding that she wanted to care for her father and eventually “return home to my country”.

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She turned down entreaties from the Russian government to discuss the case or provide consular assistance.

“I’m grateful for the offers of assistance from the Russian embassy but at the moment do not wish to avail myself of their services,” she said in a handwritten statement released by Reuters.

Putin’s remarks came during a four-hour call-in show he holds each year. This year state television also broadcast a live stream of his cabinet and governors, mayors and heads of major state companies, whom Putin could address or criticise on air if he saw fit.

Sharp questions or criticisms of the government sometimes appear during the broadcasts (“Maybe you’re tired and you need a rest?” one viewer wrote in last year), but there is little chance for follow-up questions as Putin dominates the sessions, projecting an image of a state executive fixing the country one issue at a time.

During Thursday’s broadcast, he needled Europe over Donald Trump’s imposition of steel tariffs, saying he had warned western leaders but no one had pushed back. “Now you’ve been hit. Sit down and eat please.”

He also warned Ukraine against military operations during Russia’s upcoming football World Cup. Any offensive would have “grave consequences for Ukrainian statehood”, he said. Russia is supporting separatists in south-east Ukraine.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Workers watch a live broadcast of the question and answer session. Photograph: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

Speaking about the Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov, who has been jailed in Russia on terrorism charges and is on hunger strike, Putin said he would not trade Sentsov for a Russian journalist recently detained in Kiev on spying charges. Sentsov is demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners from Russia. Thursday was the 25th day of Sentsov’s hunger strike, and supporters say he will die soon if it continues.

Putin also used recent tensions with the UK to suggest that wealthy Russian business people, often called oligarchs, bring their money back to Russia.

Russian tycoons have been spooked by the delay faced by Roman Abramovich, one of Russia’s richest men and the owner of Chelsea football club since 2003, in renewing his UK visa.

Russian officials believe Abramovich was targeted after the Skripal incident because of his high profile and his support for Putin.

Putin said he had warned Russian business people “fairly rudely” in a private meeting several years ago that they were putting themselves in danger by investing in London.

“I warned that what we are seeing now was possible,” he said. “I recommended that our business keep its capital at home, hold its capital where it was earned, and use it in order to develop the Russian economy.”

Abramovich has received Israeli citizenship, which allows him entry into the UK but not the right to do business there.