MORE details have emerged about a nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, as Malcolm Turnbull backed “retaliatory” steps against Russia.

Double agent Sergei Skripal’s daughter was the real target of the nerve agent attack that left them fighting for life, his niece has claimed.

According to The Sun , Victoria Skripal said Yulia, 33, had a bust-up with her boyfriend’s mum after he announced they planned to start a family.

And relatives are now pointing the finger at the prospective mother-in-law after it was disclosed she was a highly-ranked Russian security official.

The mum, who has not been identified, is said to have been furious that her son was marrying into the family of a man who betrayed 300 Russian agents.

And sources close to the Skripal family say she launched the Salisbury plot to stop him being tainted.

Victoria, 45, from Yaroslavl, north east of Moscow, said: “My opinion is that it was done not against Uncle Sergei, but against his daughter.

“The mother didn’t accept Yulia and thought that, if she was a traitor’s daughter, then she herself would betray her country.

Victoria added: “The method is sort of typical for women. Women likes poisons, they consider this kind of way of reprisal beautiful.”

She said when she was last in touch with 66-year-old Skripal — who betrayed scores of colleagues in Russia’s GRU foreign intelligence service — he told her “everything’s fine”.

But he was still mourning the loss of his son Alexandr — known as Sasha — last year and was planning to have a new stone put on his grave in a Salisbury churchyard.

Victoria told the pro-Kremlin Mash Telegram TV Channel said: “He said that Sasha had a new grave stone erected. In other words, the whole chat could have been described in the words ‘everything’s fine’.

“Yulia came because it was the beginning of March and Sasha’s birthday was on March 1 and this would have been the first birthday they would celebrate without him.

“I think she just came to support her father.”

She insisted her uncle no longer had enemies.

She said: “When he moved to live in England, all his friends they were all visiting him. He was a very decent man.

“He lived like any other ordinary guy. He breathed, he ate, he drank. He had plans. He was busy with his cats and guinea pigs in his garden.”

TURNBULL BACKS MAY’S MOVE

Malcolm Turnbull has backed British PM Theresa May after she expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy on British soil.

The Prime Minister said the Australian Government was “gravely concerned” that a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia had been used in the attack.

“Australia stands with the UK in solidarity and supports, in the strongest terms, Prime Minister May’s response to this heinous attack, the first use of chemical weapons in Europe since World War Two,” Mr Turnbull said in a joint statement with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop today.

“We share the UK’s outrage over this targeted attempt to commit murder using chemical weapons,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said the Australian government was still considering its response to the incident but that Ms May had made a “compelling case” about the responsibility of the Russian State in the incident and its “unlawful use of force” against the United Kingdom and its people.

“She described the Russian response as demonstrating the Russian Government’s complete disdain for the gravity of these events, responding with sarcasm, contempt and defiance,” he said.

Australia already has sanctions against Russia, for its breach of Ukraine sovereignty and its annexation of Crimea, but Mr Turnbull’s statement today signals he could look at stronger measures.

He said Australia supported the British Government’s commitment to ensure a full investigation of the incident and its efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

“The Australian Government also supports the UK Government’s right to take retaliatory measures, including its decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats and to call for an emergency session of the UN Security Council,” he said.

Australia has already expressed its “serious concerns” at a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague overnight and at the Human Rights Council on 14 March in Geneva.

UK Acting High Commissioner to Australia Ingrid Southworth has welcomed Australia’s response, saying Mr Turnbull had made a helpful statement today.

She said the British government would continue to keep Australia informed but would not be drawn on what Britain would like Australia’s response to be.

“It’s not for me to say what the Australian Government should do,” she told reporters in Canberra.

Ms Southworth said the British Government had announced the “most robust” package of measures that any state has levied against another state in 30 years.

RUSSIA LASHES UK AS SPIES KICKED OUT

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May demanded 23 Russian spies be kicked out of the UK after Russia missed its midnight deadline to comment on the nerve agent attack last week, reports The Sun.

The Russian embassy hit back saying it dubbed the move “as totally unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted” and warned of consequences.

Responding to Theresa May’s announcement that diplomats who are really spies will be booted out, Moscow threatened its “response measures will not be long in coming”.

The PM said Russia had shown “contempt and defiance” in the aftermath of an attempt to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal and warned that the poisoning represented “the unlawful use of force by Russia against the United Kingdom”.

She also confirmed that no ministers or members of the Royal Family will attend this summer’s World Cup in Russia — but stopped short of calling on the England team to pull out of the tournament.

Putin’s officials responded with fury, saying Britain’s tough response was “unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted” and describing it as a “provocation”.

A statement released by the Russian embassy in the capital crowed: “Obviously, by investigating this incident in a unilateral, non-transparent way, the British Government is again seeking to launch a groundless anti-Russian campaign.

“Needless to say, our response measures will not be long in coming.”

After Ms May announced the spy expulsion Jeremy Corbyn sparked anger when he suggested that Russia might not be behind the attack and compared the investigation to claims about Saddam Hussein’s WMDs.

The expulsion of 23 Russian spies is the toughest act of its kind for 30 years — and will almost certainly spark a tit-for-tat diplomatic war, with British diplomats likely to be kicked out of Moscow.

Mrs May told the House of Commons: “To those who seek to do us harm, our message is clear — you are not welcome here.”

Blasting Putin’s refusal to respond to her demand for an explanation, the PM said: “It was right to offer Russia the opportunity to provide an explanation.

“But their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events. They have provided no credible explanation that could suggest they lost control of their nerve agent.

“No explanation as to how this agent came to be used in the United Kingdom; no explanation as to why Russia has an undeclared chemical weapons program in contravention of international law.

“Instead they have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance.

“There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter — and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey.

“This represents an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom.”

Any Russian spies who try to re-enter Britain will now be stopped at the border in the same way as terror suspects, the PM said.

RUSSIA WARNED OF UNITED FRONT

She announced that sanctions on human rights violators will be stepped up, and vowed to freeze the assets of the Russian regime if they are being used to meddle in the UK.

Mrs May added: “We will continue to bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites. There is no place for these people — or their money — in our country.”

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who was due to visit Britain shortly, has had his invitation withdrawn, she announced.

The PM said: “I continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.

“But in the aftermath of this appalling act against our country, this relationship cannot be the same.”

And she warned Putin that Britain will not stand alone, revealing that Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel have promised to present a united front against Russian atrocities.

But Jeremy Corbyn caused fury by immediately taking political potshots, as he brought up cuts to our diplomatic capability.

He also said he agreed with Russia that we should hand over a sample of the nerve agent used to them too.

The leftie Labour boss was heckled by Tory MPs as he suggested we should maintain a “robust dialogue” with Russia.

And he used his comments to snipe at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, saying he was “demeaning” his office.

Mrs May lashed out at Labour for refusing to join together with the Government in a time of national crisis.

“They could have taken the opportunity to condemn the culpability of the Russian state,” she stormed.

And Mr Corbyn’s own MPs joined the anger as they pledged support for the Prime Minister’s actions.

But some Labour supporters claim the attack on Mr Skripal was a “false flag” designed to damage the party leader, The Sun revealed.

The Russian embassy in London responded to Mrs May’s statement with fury, saying: “We consider this hostile action as totally unacceptable, unjustified and shortsighted.

“All the responsibility for the deterioration of the Russia-UK relationship lies with the current political leadership of Britain.”

BRITS WARNED TO REMAIN VIGILANT

After today’s escalation of hostilities, Brits visiting Russia were warned they must avoid talking publicly about politics in case they attract the regime’s attention.

The Foreign Office updated its travel advice for the country, telling tourists they could face “anti-British sentiment or harassment”.

Officials added: “You’re advised to remain vigilant, avoid any protests or demonstrations and avoid commenting publicly on political developments.”

The Russian regime has refused to explain its role in the attempted hit — saying it will take at least ten days to respond to the PM’s ultimatum.

And ambassador Alexander Yakovenko went further today, saying: “Everything done today is absolutely unacceptable and we consider this a provocation.

“The UK should follow international law. They have to present the request to the organisation and we are happy to consider this within the ten days.

“We believe this is a very serious provocation and of course we are not ready to talk.”

It has emerged that police are looking for a mysterious couple who may be witnesses to the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter while the investigation has widened from Salisbury to Gillingham.

The PM set Russia a deadline of midnight last night to explain how nerve agent novichok came to be used in the brazen attack — but the regime responded by taunting Britain and boasting about its nuclear arsenal.

Mrs May held a meeting of the National Security Council this morning, before returning to the Commons to outline the next steps in the campaign to punish Russia for the assassination attempt.

Britain has also called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in a bid to hold the regime to account, while the UK’s NATO allies pledged to stand firm alongside us.

This morning Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, made the bizarre claim that Russia hasn’t actually received a formal request for information from the UK.

He said Putin’s government would take ten days to respond once the official message is received.

As well as issuing a public ultimatum on Monday, Mrs May summoned the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Office, while Britain’s ambassador to Moscow held talks with Putin officials this week.

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most popular opposition leader, said the best way to show Putin Britain is serious about action would be to target wealthy Russians who are now based in London.

He singled out Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, and Alisher Usmanov, who has a 30 per cent stake in Arsenal, as well as Putin’s deputy PM Igor Shuvalov, who owns a luxury flat in the capital.

Mr Navalny told The Times: “The unpleasant scenario for Putin would be if the English finally chuck out from their country dozens of our officials and oligarchs with their families and money.

“And here there are three key surnames — Abramovich, Usmanov and Shuvalov.”

Mr Abramovich, 51, was governor of a Russian province before moving to London when he bought Chelsea in 2003, turning the team into a major European force.

Mr Usmanov, 64, is the second largest shareholder in Arsenal and one of the wealthiest people in the UK.

Mr Navalny dismissed suggestions of boycotting the World Cup and banning Kremlin TV channel RT, claiming both would play into Putin’s hands by making Britain seem illiberal.

Part of this story first appeared in The Sun and has been republished with permission.