Russia Claims Skripal Poisoning Was Staged By UK Intelligence

Russia's Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, says that London's reluctance to share information on the March 4 poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal has led Moscow to suggest that London authorities actually perpetrated the crime.

“We have very serious suspicion that this provocation was done by British intelligence,” Yakovenko told Russia's NTV channel - adding however that Moscow had no direct proof, but that the UK's behavior constitutes strong circumstantial evidence in support of their theory.

Skripal case: How UK ‘explains’ why Russia is to blame in 1-minute VIDEO https://t.co/Dx0uqP0LrE pic.twitter.com/7UfX2gAwVr
— RT (@RT_com) March 30, 2018
Yakovenko also suggested that London had gained several benefits from the poisoning - both short and long-term, in that Theresa May's government is capitalizing on the event in order to boost support at home, while burying headlines over its failures to negotiate better Brexit terms. The long-term benefit, according to Yakovenko, is that London is able to elevate itself into a primary position in the ongoing confrontation between the West and Russia.
“The Britons are claiming a leading role in the so-called containment of Russia. To win support from the people and the parliament for this containment of Russia, a serious provocation was required. And the Britons may have done a really savage one to get this support" -Alexander Yakovenko
Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury using what the UK says was a "military grade" nerve agent developed by Russia from the "Novichok" family of toxins - however Russia's representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told state-run television in mid-March that the U.S. and U.K. developed the military-grade nerve agent used in the attack.
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/64920/russia-claims-skripal-poisoning-was-staged-by-uk.html

Related:

‘Skripal provocation aimed at increasing NATO military budget’ – Russian deputy FM


[Posted at the SpookyWeather blog, April 4th, 2018.]