A second British policeman was slightly tainted by the Novitchok nerve agent used last year against a former Russian double agent, the British police said on Thursday. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia had fallen into a coma after contacting Novitchok on 4 March 2018 in Salisbury, southern England.
They had both survived, but a local resident, Dawn Sturgess, had died after splashing on what she thought was a perfume contained in a flask that had no doubt been used to transport Novichok from Russia, according to investigators. . Another police officer was severely contaminated and had to be hospitalized.
A "very small" dose detected
London is demanding in Moscow the extradition of two suspected members of the Military Intelligence Service (GRU) suspected of perpetrating the attack on the orders of the Kremlin. Moscow denies any involvement. According to detectives of the British anti-terrorism (CTP), "traces of the nerve agent" were found in blood samples taken from a second officer, who had shown signs of exposure to the agent to the time.
This is a "very small" dose and the officer, who requested anonymity, "continues to receive support" from the Salisbury police, according to a statement. "The investigation continues and we continue to piece together the puzzle," said the CTP. Investigators are looking for people who may have seen a bottle of Nina Ricci's counterfeit perfume between the time the Skripal were poisoned and the one where Dawn Sturgess's friend picked him up in a park in June to offer him .