A landmark public inquiry has concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin bears "moral responsibility" for the death of British citizen Dawn Sturgess, who was poisoned by the Novichok nerve agent in 2018.
The Fatal Poisoning in Wiltshire
The inquiry, led by Lord Hughes of Ombersley, detailed the tragic events that led to Ms Sturgess's death in July 2018. She was exposed to the deadly chemical weapon after her partner found a discarded perfume bottle in Amesbury, Wiltshire. The bottle, which investigators confirmed contained Novichok, had been used in the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury just months earlier, in March 2018.
Police officer Nick Bailey was also seriously injured in the initial attack. The inquiry stated that the targeting of Mr Skripal was not merely an act of revenge but a deliberate "public statement" made by the Russian state.
Recklessness and Anticipated Attribution
Lord Hughes's report was scathing in its assessment of the attack's nature. It found that the Kremlin would have fully expected to be blamed for what it described as an "astonishingly reckless" operation. The use of a military-grade nerve agent in a British city demonstrated a flagrant disregard for public safety, which ultimately led to an innocent bystander losing her life.
The inquiry also dismissed suggestions that UK security services could have done more to protect Sergei Skripal by creating a new identity for him prior to the attack, implying the operation was of a scale and nature that made prevention extremely difficult.
A Lasting Legacy of the Attack
The death of Dawn Sturgess, an innocent mother of three, transformed the Salisbury incident from an attempted assassination into a fatal tragedy affecting a British family with no connection to espionage. The inquiry's finding of moral responsibility places direct political accountability for her death at the highest level of the Russian government.
This conclusion comes after the Russian ambassador to the UK was seen laughing off suggestions of his country's involvement. The report solidifies the UK's long-standing position on the source of the attack and underscores the severe diplomatic rupture between London and Moscow that followed the poisonings.
