Putin ‘morally responsible’ for Dawn Sturgess’s novichok death, inquiry finds | Novichok poisonings

Vladimir Putin was “morally responsible” for the death of a British woman who was killed after she sprayed herself with nerve agent smuggled into Britain by Russian agents to assassinate a former spy, an investigation has concluded.

Lord Hughes, chairman investigationHe said the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in March 2018 should have been authorized by the Russian President.

He said he was confident the Russian men had taken the fake perfume bottle containing novichok, the nerve agent that killed Dawn Sturgess, to Wiltshire and left it behind in Salisbury after the attempt to shoot Skripal, describing it as a “staggeringly reckless act”.

Hughes said the evidence that this was a Russian state attack was “overwhelming.” He called it “a public demonstration of Russian state power in terms of both international and domestic influence.”

chair said Alexander Petrov, Ruslan Boshirov and Sergey Fedotov (all pseudonyms) were members of the operational team within the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency responsible for gathering foreign intelligence.

Introducing the report, Hughes said Sturgess was “an entirely innocent victim of the cruel and cynical actions of others”. He praised her family for responding to her death “with dignity and clarity”, adding: “They were determined to ensure that the full facts surrounding Dawn’s death were established. They greatly assisted my investigation.”

Hughes addressed Moscow’s claims that novichok may have originated with British officials and was used to falsely place responsibility on Russia. He said there was “overwhelming evidence” to support his findings that Novichok was brought to Salisbury by intelligence officers from Russia’s GRU agency.

He concluded: “I am sure that they acted according to instructions when carrying out the attack on Sergei Skripal. I have concluded that the assassination operation against Sergei Skripal must have been authorized by President Putin at the highest level.”

“I conclude that everyone involved in the assassination attempt – not only Petrov, Boshirov and Fedotov, but also those who sent them and everyone who authorized or knew they were assisting in Russia or elsewhere – is morally responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess.

“Using a highly toxic nerve agent in a busy city was a stunningly reckless act. The risk of death or injury to others beyond the intended target was entirely foreseeable. The risk was increased dramatically by a bottle of novichok disguised as perfume being left in the city.”

On March 4, 2018, Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned by Novichok at their Salisbury home, where they had been housed in a suburban cul-de-sac after a spy transaction. The Skripals became seriously ill but survived.

Sturgess, 44, died on June 30, 2018, after she sprayed herself with novichok hidden in a fake perfume bottle at her boyfriend Charlie Rowley’s home in Amesbury, Wiltshire, seven miles north of Salisbury.

Hughes said three Russian agents arrived in London from Moscow on Friday, March 2, with the aim of killing Skripal. He said that on Sunday, March 4, Petrov and Boshirov planted a novichok on Skripal’s front door handle.

Hughes said: “I’m sure Petrov and Boshirov brought to Salisbury the bottle of ‘Nina Ricci’ containing the Russian-made novichok that was later responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess. It is likely that this was the bottle they used to apply poison to the doorknob of Sergei Skripal’s house.”

“They recklessly threw this bottle in a public or semi-public place before leaving Salisbury. They may have disregarded the danger thus created of death or serious injury to an innumerable number of innocent people.”

Rowley said he found the bottle in a bin shortly before giving it to Sturgess, but Hughes said it was “probably” he found it “within a few days” after it was abandoned on March 4.

The President said: “There is a clear causal link between Petrov and Boshirov’s use and disposal of novichok and the death of Dawn Sturgess.”

Hughes said he was considering whether the British state should take steps that could have prevented the Wiltshire poisonings.

As an exchanged prisoner, he concluded that there were flaws in Skripal’s management. “In particular, adequate and regular written evaluations were not made,” he said. But he said the state’s assessment that Skripal did not pose a significant risk of assassination could not be considered unreasonable.

He also said he did not think the attack on Skripal could have been prevented by taking additional security measures. “The only precaution that could have prevented the attack would have been to completely disguise him with a new identity.”

Extra training for emergency services after the Salisbury attack to recognize symptoms of nerve agent exposure should be more widely distributed, Hughes said. He also criticized Wiltshire police for wrongly characterizing Sturgess as a drug user after he was poisoned.

The President concluded that it was reasonable for public health officials not to advise the public not to take anything because the whereabouts of Russian agents were unknown at that stage.

Hughes said he was satisfied Sturgess received “fully appropriate medical care” from the ambulance staff and hospital doctors who attended to him.

He said: “It was absolutely clear that his condition was in fact insurmountable from a very early stage, before the ambulance crew came to treat him. This was a result of very serious brain damage which was a result of his heart stopping for a prolonged period of approximately 30 minutes immediately following his poisoning.”

Public hearings were held in Salisbury and London from 14 October to 2 December 2024. Earlier this year, a series of hearings were held behind closed doors so that highly sensitive information could be placed before the president. The investigation cost £8.3 million.