The chemical watchdog confirmed that Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a “high purity” toxin.
LONDON — Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Thursday that only Russia had the “means motive and record” to attack a former spy and his daughter with nerve agent.
His comments came soon after the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — the international chemical watchdog — confirmed that Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were poisoned with a toxic chemical of “high purity.”
Johnson said “there can be no doubt what was used and there remains no alternative explanation about who was responsible – only Russia has the means the motive and record,” the Associated Press reported.
The Skripals were found unresponsive on a bench in Salisbury, southern England, on March 4. The U. K. blames Russia for the poisoning but the Kremlin denies any responsibility.
Sergei Skripal served jail time in Russia for spying for Britain before he was freed in a spy swap and moved to Salisbury in 2010.
Yulia was discharged from Salisbury District Hospital this week. Her father remains in the hospital. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who was also exposed to the nerve agent was released from hospital last month.
More: Poisoned daughter of ex-spy ‘still suffering’ from nerve agent
More: Yulia Skripal discharged from Salisbury hospital after poisoning
The OPCW said it analyzed environmental and biomedical samples that “confirm the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical that was used in Salisbury.”
The OPCW did not name the chemical, which British Prime Minister Theresa May has said is the nerve agent Novichok.
“The name and structure of the identified toxic chemical are contained in the full classified report,” the watchdog said in the report’s summary.
