Rattling Nerves: Sergei Skripal Poisoning
Salisbury is a beautiful medieval cathedral city in England. It's home to the Magna Carta Chapter house, boasting the well preserved original historic document. It's depicted as being a desirable place to live in "with excellent schools, a great hospital and a lot of culture". No wonder it attracted Sergei Skripal, as a wonderful place to have a peaceful retirement. However, his dreams of a quiet life were shattered when he and his daughter became the victim of a fatal attack.
What happened?
On 4th March, Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia were victims of this attack. "He was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky. It looked like they had been taking something quite strong" a witness reported. The police were alerted of the case and both father and daughter were rushed to the Salisbury District hospital. It was only on March 7th that it was revealed that the pair had been poisoned by a nerve agent. It was also reported that this was attempted murder and currently both of them are critically ill in the hospital. Small businesses in the Salisbury city centre (where the attack took place) are either being sealed (due to contamination) or are struggling to stay afloat. That is because many people are afraid to come in the area which is being referred to as a "ghost town".
Who is Sergei Skripal?
Sergei Skripal is no ordinary person and the UK authorities have made it clear that this is no run-of-the-mill murder case. UK police Assistant Commissioner, Mark Rowley has said that “This is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent." Sergei Skripal was a former Russian military intelligence officer. He worked as a double agent for UK in 1990s and the early 2000s. In Russia, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006 for passing the identities of Russian secret agents in Europe to the MI6 (UK's secret intelligence service). Skripal was one of the "lucky 4" prisoners that Moscow swapped with the US, in return for arrested Russian spies in the US, in 2010. His daughter Yulia had come to visit her father from Russia just one day before the tragedy.
What is a "nerve agent" and how dangerous is it?
Authorities in UK have shown quite tough rhetoric against the use of the nerve agent. But what exactly is a nerve agent? Nerve agents are highly toxic chemicals that stop the nervous system from working properly and can be lethal. Nerve agents can kill within five to fifteen minutes and are classified as chemical weapons. UK Prime minister, Theresa May, has said that the nerve agent used was military grade and is a type developed by Russia, known as Novichok. Novichok means ""new-comer" in Russian. This type of Nerve agent was developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. Novichok is reportedly five to eight times more toxic than VX nerve agent. The VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong-Nam (Half-brother of Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean leader) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, 2017.
How has the UK government responded?
Theresa May had said in parliament, "The government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal". It is quite clear that UK blamed Russia however, May wasn't saying that the Russian government had perpetrated the attack as of then. "Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophic damaging nerve agent, and allowed it to get into the hands of others." she had continued. May had given the Russian government an ultimatum, to explain these acts and threatened that "Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom". Not surprisingly Russia ignored the Ultimatum. All eyes were on Uk to see what "full range of measures" that May promised in her speech, will UK take.
Theresa May announced that UK will be expelling 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation. All Russian diplomats had been identified as undeclared intelligence officers and had 1 week to leave the UK. “Their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events,” Theresa May said in Parliament referring to Russia. Theresa May also announced many changes that they are planning to make to strengthen their defence against such acts. Like tabling a government amendment to the UK sanctions bill, to strengthen UK's power to impose sanctions in response to violation of human rights. May also said that UK will be utilizing its current powers to do things like freeze hostile Russian assets, among many others. It is quite clear that Theresa May, a PM that has been known to be a week leader is taking a very strong stance against Russia.
What about Russia?
Russia has not sat quietly. When Theresa May demanded an explanation and gave an ultimatum, Russia said it would not respond unless it is allowed access to case materials. Russia's foreign minister tried to justify Russia's demands by saying that "The requested party has the full right to get access to the substance in question in order to be able to carry out its own analysis of the substance." However, no action was taken and the Ultimatum passed. Russia responded to the expulsion of Russian diplomats by saying that it was “unacceptable, unjustified and short-sighted.” Putin's spokesman has said that the accusations are "against international law and common sense". He also said that UK should expect a response from Russia soon. The response came, Russia expelled 23 UK diplomats and will be halting work of the British council.
What do other countries have to say?
UK has gained support by its allies. France, Germany and USA have joined UK in blaming Russia by issuing a joint statement. “We share the UK assessment that there is no plausible alternative explanation, and note that Russia's failure to address the legitimate request by the UK government further underlines its responsibility. We call on Russia to address all questions related to the attack in Salisbury.” the statement said. The joint statement was issued at the time when May was visiting the scene of the attack in Salisbury.
Is Russia really behind the attack?
Russia has maintained that it has nothing to do with the act. But, there are reasons as to why Russia could be behind the attack. The first and foremost would be that the nerve agent that was used for the attack is developed by Russia. Another reason would be that Russia does believe that traitors should be punished and has made that very clear with past actions. One of the most convincing one is that Russia has done something similar in the past. Alexander Litvinenko was a former agent at the Federal Security Service (the principal security agency of Russia), who fled to Britain and became a critic of the Kremlin. He was killed by radioactive polonium-210 at the time that he was investigating Spanish links to the Russian mafia. A public inquiry concluded that President Putin probably approved the assassination. The similarities between both cases are striking and many similar cases have been found.
Nevertheless, there is also an argument on the other side. A Russian lawmaker has said that even the US could have obtained the nerve agent. He said that US was involved in cleaning up Nukus, which is an isolated city in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. Novichok was supposedly used in Nukus in 1999. There are also many other theories floating like one, which proposes that the chemical weapon is not Novichok. Some also say that Novichok could have been smuggled out of chemical weapons and storage sites after the collapse of the Soviet Union due to low security. It seems as if determining who is guilty is just a matter of perspective. It seems that the matter is only to decide what carries more weight. However, the former explanation seems to be slightly heavier.
What next?
It seems as if the case is right out of a movie. It is clear that this case will not end soon, nor will it end pretty. If Russia really is responsible (which is likely) then UK must continue on it's strong stance. It seems that luck may finally be on May's side since the case came at a time when US is increasing sanctions on Russia (especially since Trump had been very lax with Russia). However, Theresa May does face many challenges both in the UK and with the international community. May has the responsibility to convince the UK first with Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggesting that “mafia-like groups” in Russia could have been behind the attack. She also has to convince the international community of taking action against Russia, since just their verbal support will not be enough. One thing that is for sure is that Theresa May will be having a lot on her plate.