Russia Demands Answers From UK Government In The Skripal Case

Russia has published a list of questions with regards to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. In addition to these questions we have complied our own list which we feel are deserving of an answer too. They are by no means comprehensive either but highlight, in our opinion, some of the obvious gaps in terms of the questions that should be asked of the UK government who are, after all, supposed to serve the people.

Russia’s Questions

1. Why has Russia been denied the right of consular access to the two Russian citizens, who came to harm on British territory?
2. What specific antidotes and in what form were the victims injected with? How did such antidotes come into the possession of British doctors at the scene of the incident?
3. On what grounds was France involved in technical cooperation in the investigation of the incident, in which Russian citizens were injured?
4. Did the UK notify the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) of France’s involvement in the investigation of the Salisbury incident?
5. What does France have to do with the incident, involving two Russian citizens in the UK?
6. What rules of UK procedural legislation allow for the involvement of a foreign state in an internal investigation?
7. What evidence was handed over to France to be studied and for the investigation to be conducted?
8. Were the French experts present during the sampling of biomaterial from Sergei and Yulia Skripal?
9. Was the study of biomaterials from Sergei and Yulia Skripal conducted by the French experts and, if so, in which specific laboratories?
10. Does the UK have the materials involved in the investigation carried out by France?
11. Have the results of the French investigation been presented to the OPCW Technical Secretariat?
12. Based on what attributes was the alleged “Russian origin” of the substance used in Salisbury established?
13. Does the UK have control samples of the chemical warfare agent, which British representatives refer to as “Novichok”?
14. Have the samples of a chemical warfare agent of the same type as “Novichok” (in accordance to British terminology) or its analogues been developed in the UK?

Additional Questions

1. On what basis did the UK government come to the conclusion that Novichok was used to poison the Skripals almost immediately after the incident whereas the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will need to analyse the agent for at least three weeks to reach a conclusion.
2. What precisely is the Scotland Yard investigation seeking to determine?
3. Has the identity of the individual or individuals responsible for the attack been determined?
4. Given the potency of Novichok why were UK citizens advised to clean potentially contaminated surfaces and personal items with e.g. baby wipes?
5. Why are there such inconsistencies in the UK media in terms of their reporting of the facts surrounding the poisoning of the Skripals?
6. Would you concede that it is perfectly feasible for any nation or individual  to acquire or manufacture a nerve agent?
7. Can the UK government provide categorical assurances that Porton Down have established that the agent used was produced in Russia?
8. Can you clarify precisely what the statement that the poison used was “a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia” means?
9. Why has the UK government consistently refused to cooperate with the Russian government with respect to the Skripals?
10. Given the OPCW confirmed that Russia has destroyed all its chemical weapons, at what point did the UK government inform the OPCW that they were in possession of intelligence which refuted that statementt made by the OPCW?
11. Can you confirm whether or not there was any direct or indirect connection between Sergei Skripal and Christopher Steele?
12. Why would Russia grant Yulia Skripal a visa to come to the UK and then allegedly be involved in the attempted killing of her on UK soil?
13. Please can you clarify why it appears that a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust stated in a newspaper article that “no patients have experienced nerve agent poisoning in Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with significant poisoning.”?
14. How can the UK government make accusations against the Russian state whilst failing to provide the evidence to support their claims to Moscow?