A former Russian double agent and his daughter have revealed they "fell asleep at the moment of death" during a nerve agent attack orchestrated on British soil, only to wake up three weeks later in hospital.
The Salisbury Attack: A Daylight Assassination Attempt
Sergei Skripal, 74, and his daughter Yulia, then 33, were targeted in a brazen daylight poisoning in Salisbury on 4 March 2018. The pair were exposed to the military-grade nerve agent Novichok, which had been smeared on the handle of Mr Skripal's front door. In written evidence to the ongoing public inquiry into the incident, the Skripals have now shared chilling details of their experience.
The attack triggered one of the largest counter-terrorism operations in recent UK history, involving 180 military chemical warfare experts. Authorities believe the poison was delivered by two agents of Russia's GRU military intelligence service, who travelled to Britain under the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
"Like Being on LSD": The Harrowing Ordeal
The Skripals first noticed symptoms while having lunch at a Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury city centre. Yulia, who had flown in from Russia the previous day, said they initially found it "amusing" when their eyes began to twitch. The situation rapidly deteriorated.
"Everything in the street was swinging around, really, really bad," Yulia recounted of the moments after leaving the restaurant. She described having to hold her father's hand for support. After a short walk, they collapsed onto a bench.
"When I sat down it was a very strange and scary feeling," she stated. "Almost everything was blurred and colours were changing... it's pink, red, blue, so it's like being on LSD or amphetamines." Her father, Sergei, recalled intense hallucinations, including seeing Arabic men and women and attempting to punch one, knowing it wasn't real because "there are not a lot of Arabic people in Salisbury."
CCTV footage showed Yulia slumped on her father's shoulder, making circular motions with her left hand. Both lost consciousness within minutes, with Yulia fearing she might have choked on her own vomit without the intervention of passers-by who called emergency services.
Three-Week Coma and a "Sitting Ducks" Security Failure
The father and daughter spent the next three weeks in comas. Mr Skripal described regaining consciousness believing only a day had passed, only to learn 21 days had elapsed. Their recovery was long and challenging, and both have maintained a low profile since.
The inquiry, led by Lord Hughes of Ombersley, also heard stark criticism of the security provisions for the Skripals. Barrister Michael Mansfield KC accused the UK government of an "abject failure" to protect them. He stated the attempted assassinations were "preventable," highlighting a lack of security at Mr Skripal's home and his use of an unsecured landline. "They were sitting ducks," Mansfield told the inquiry.
The inquiry is named after Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three who died tragically months after the attack. She was exposed to Novichok from a perfume bottle discarded by the assassins, which her partner found. Concluding the public hearings, Lord Hughes stated Ms Sturgess died an "innocent victim" and placed moral responsibility for her death on the Russian operatives and, ultimately, President Vladimir Putin, whose actions he described as "astonishingly reckless."
The British government has consistently accused the Russian state of carrying out the attack. The two suspected assassins, also wanted by the FBI for alleged interference in the 2016 US election, claimed they were tourists visiting Salisbury to see its famous cathedral spire.
