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The UK says that a Soviet-developed Novichok nerve agent was used against Sergei Skripal, his daughter, and bystanders, and has given Russia "until midnight tonight" to explain how it came to be used:
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Tuesday that Russia has "until midnight tonight" to explain how a lethal Novichok nerve agent that was developed in Russia came to be used on U.K. soil. Johnson said Britain is preparing to take "commensurate but robust" action.
Reiterating British Prime Minister Theresa May's statement that it was "highly likely" Russia was to blame for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, Johnson said, "the use of this nerve agent would represent the first use of nerve agents on the continent of Europe since the Second World War."
Meanwhile, police are probing the death of a Russian exile living in London:
Nikolai Glushkov, a Russian exile who was a close friend of a noted critic of President Vladimir Putin, has died from an "unexplained" cause in London, police say. The Metropolitan Police says that its counter-terrorism unit is handling the case "because of associations that the man is believed to have had."
Glushkov, 68, was a close friend of former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a prominent critic of the Kremlin who was found dead in 2013. At the time, an inquiry found he had hanged himself — but Glushkov publicly disputed the idea that his friend and former business ally would have killed himself.
As British media began reporting Glushkov's death, the police issued a statement saying, "An investigation is underway following the death of a man in his 60s in Kingston borough."
Previously: Former Russian Spy Exposed to "Unknown Substance" in Salisbury, England
Use of Nerve Agent Confirmed in Skripal Assassination Attempt
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:29PM
Yes, actually it is.
Before you make such a demand you need to be able to prove they did it, for starters. So far it seems to be simply an assumption.
Second, you'd need clean hands. That's a deeply problematic road for the UK to try and tread.
What they really want is for Russia to return to the docil, submissive stance that she abandoned after Libya. Which Russia has quite firmly decided will not happen.
"While I'm sure that 1, 2 or 3 above would likely achieve that, I have a sneaking suspicion that *slightly* less destructive means might be both effective and much less disruptive for us all."
What do you think is going to happen, a few cruise missiles, a few air strikes, Russia surrenders? Putin agrees to step down and appoint your pick in his place? The Duma and the Russian people in general just shrug and accept that?
"I know. I know. I'm living in a fantasy land. "
That's what it sounds like to me.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?