April 12 (UPI) — Yulia Skripal, the poisoned daughter of a former Russian spy who was attacked with a nerve agent in Britain last month, is denying help from the Russian embassy.
In a statement released by the Metropolitan Police, Skripal said she finds her life “totally different” following the March 4 attack on her and her father, Sergei Skripal, 66.
The 33-year-old, who has been taken to a secure location, said that although she has “kindly” received assistance from the Russian Embassy in Britain, she doesn’t need the help.
“I have been made aware of my specific contacts at the Russian Embassy who have kindly offered me their assistance in any way they can,” Skripal said. “At the moment I do not wish to avail myself of their services, but, if I change my mind I know how to contact them.”
Sergei Skripal is still “seriously ill” from the poisoning, his daughter said in the statement, adding that she was still suffering from effects of the agent despite being released from the Salisbury District Hospital earlier this week.
“Most importantly, I am safe and feeling better as time goes by, but I am not yet strong enough to give a full interview to the media, as I one day hope to do,” Yulia Skripal said. “Until that time, I want to stress that no one speaks for me, or for my father, but ourselves.”
The Russian Embassy said on Thursday that Yulia Skripal’s statement was “carefully worded to support” the British narrative of the attack and isolate the spy’s daughter from the rest of the world.
“As before, we would like to make sure that the statement really belongs to Yulia. So far, we doubt it much,” the embassy said in a statement. “The text has been composed in a special way so as to support official statements made by British authorities and at the same time to exclude every possibility of Yulia’s contacts with the outer world – consuls, journalists and even relatives.”
The Skripals were found slumped on a bench at a Salisbury shopping area after being exposed to a Soviet-era nerve agent, Novichok.
British officials, including Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, have blamed Russia for the attack. The United States, France, Germany and other countries have also placed the blame on Moscow for poisoning the former double agent and his daughter.
The Russian government has denied any involvement in the attack.
In retaliation for the positioning, British and U.S officials expelled Russian diplomats from their embassies. Russia also expelled British and U.S. diplomats from Moscow in a tit-for-tat measure.
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