Former Russian agent Sergei Skripal no longer in critical condition

Sergei Skripal attends a Moscow Military Court hearing in 2006. The double-agent, who was found slumped in an English town following a poisoning attack, is ‘improving rapidly.’ Salisbury District Hospital said Skripal was ‘responding well to treatment’ and ‘no longer in a critical condition.’ (AFP)

• Sergei Skripal “is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition.”
• Skripal’s 33-year-old daughter Yulia, who was also targeted in the attempted poisoning in Salisbury, had earlier recovered.

London: Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal is no longer in critical condition and has responded well to treatment after a nerve agent attack last month, the hospital treating him said on Friday.
“He is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition,” Christine Blanshard, Medical Director at Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement.
This follows on the earlier recovery of his daughter, 33-year-old Yulia, who was also targeted in the attempted poisoning in Salisbury.
On Thursday, Russian state television reported Yulia had phoned her cousin and told her that she and her father were both recovering and that she expected to leave hospital soon.
Russia told Britain at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that “you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry” over its accusations that Moscow was to blame for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.
It was the second showdown between Russia and Britain at the world body since the March 4 nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Russia, which requested Thursday’s council meeting, denies any involvement.
The attack has had major diplomatic ramifications, with mass expulsions of Russian and Western diplomats. The 15-member Security Council first met over the issue on March 14 at Britain’s request.
“We have told our British colleagues that ‘you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry’,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said during a more than 30-minute speech that attempted to poke holes in Britain’s allegations against Moscow.
Meanwhile, Germany finds Britain’s assertions that Russia has a continuing program of developing Novichok nerve toxins “very plausible,” a government spokeswoman told a regular news conference on Friday.
Spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer declined to comment on whether Germany had similar intelligence relating to the toxin, allegedly used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain last month.
She added that alleged Russian involvement in the poison attack fitted into a pattern of Russian activities over recent years, including military invasions and attacks on former spies in other countries.