More than 130 people could have been exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok during an attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday.
May told lawmakers that hundreds of British citizens had been put in danger by the “utterly barbaric” act, which left former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in a coma.
No country other than Russia had the combination of “the capability, the intent and the motive” to carry out such an attack, she said.
“Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain critically ill in hospital. Sadly, late last week, doctors indicated that their condition is unlikely to change in the near future, and they may never recover fully,” May said.
“This shows the utterly barbaric nature of this act, and the dangers that hundreds of innocent citizens in Salisbury could have faced,” she said. “We assess that more than 130 people in Salisbury could have been potentially exposed to this nerve agent.”
May pledged that the UK, together with its EU and NATO allies, would “face down” the Russian threat and defend its infrastructure, institutions and values.
“We will act to protect our national security and to keep our people safe,” she said.
More than 50 people have been assessed in hospitals, including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who said after he was discharged last week that his life would probably never be the same after being exposed.
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspectors have begun working at the scene of the attack on the Skripals, with officials saying that it would take two to three weeks to complete laboratory analysis of samples.
Local reports suggested that buildings in public areas in Salisbury would be decontaminated later this week, with the operation expected to include the Zizzi restaurant and the Mill pub, which were visited by the pair.
The British government has evidence that Russia, which claimed it had destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile, had explored ways of exporting it, May said.
“We have information indicating that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents, probably for assassination, and as part of this program has produced and stockpiled small quantities of Novichok,” May said. “Clearly, that is in contravention of the chemical weapons convention.”
Since the incident, Russia has advanced 21 arguments to try to distance itself from the attack, she said.
“They provided no explanation as to why Russia has an undeclared chemical weapons program, in contravention of international law. No explanation that they could have lost control of their nerve agent and no explanation as to how this agent came to be used in the United Kingdom,” May said.
“Instead, they have treated the use of a military-grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance,” she added.
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