Russian President Vladimir Putin has been found “morally responsible” for the 2018 death of an English woman by a British government inquiry.
In June 2018, Dawn Sturgess, 44, received a perfume bottle from her partner, Charlie Rowley, who had found it in a charity bin. However, instead of Nina Ricci perfume, the bottle contained Novichok, a deadly nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union. Sturgess sprayed the bottle on her wrists and died shortly after.
The inquiry found that the bottle was intended to be used in the failed assassination of a former Russian spy named Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Julia, in Salisbury, Wiltshire, which happened months earlier.
“I have concluded that the operation to assassinate Sergei Skripal must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin,” said the inquiry chair, Lord Anthony Hughes, 77.
“I therefore conclude that all those involved in the assassination attempt… were morally responsible for Dawn Sturgess’ death,” he added.
After the report’s release, the U.K. government sanctioned Russia’s leading military intelligence agency, the GRU, in its entirety. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, 63, said the report was “a grave reminder of the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent lives,” adding the U.K. “will always stand up to Putin’s brutal regime and call out his murderous machine for what it is.”
Russia said it “does not recognize illegitimate sanctions which are imposed under trumped-up pretexts… and reserves the right to retaliate.”
Russia has long denied any involvement in the attacks on Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who were poisoned by the deadly nerve agent in March 2018 but managed to survive.
The inquiry concluded that nothing could have reasonably been done to prevent Sturgess’ death. It found that Skripal was not at high risk of assassination. Furthermore, there was no reason to think his litter posed a danger to the public, as it was unreasonable to believe that assassins would have trashed a perfume bottle containing a deadly nerve agent.
The report concluded that emergency first responders who were not briefed on the similarities between a nerve agent attack and an opioid overdose were not responsible for her death. It stated her treatment was “entirely appropriate” and that “no medical treatment could in fact have saved her life.”
Lord Hughes suggested there should be a way for senior officers to know if “anything significant” happens to someone with a “sensitive background,” like Skripal.
Sturgess’s family said they were happy that the inquiry had been concluded, telling the BBC, “We can finally put her to peace. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
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