Russia has demanded the UK hand over evidence Moscow was involved in an attack on a former Russian spy. Russia's Foreign Ministry has criticized the UK's accusations, saying in a statement they were "openly provocative."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/PA Wire/Y. Mok
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The midnight Tuesday deadline for Moscow to respond to London's ultimatum that it explain its suspected involvement in last week's nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy has passed without a response from Russia.
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in London said Moscow would not respond "until it receives samples of the chemical substance." The embassy has called for a joint investigation into the incident.
The spokesperson added that Russia was not involved in the attack in the English city of Salisbury, and said any punitive measures against Russia would "elicit a response."
Earlier, British Prime Minister Theresa May had said a "full range" of retaliatory measures would be considered if Moscow did not give a "credible response" by the end of Tuesday.
The measures under consideration reportedly include freezing the assets of Russian business leaders and officials, limiting access to London's financial center and the expulsion of diplomats.
May is expected to outline her response in Parliament on Wednesday after a meeting of the National Security Council. London is reportedly also likely to call on Western allies for a coordinated response.
US President Donald Trump told May by telephone that Russia "must provide unambiguous answers regarding how this chemical weapon, developed in Russia, came to be used in the United Kingdom," the White House said.
"As soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn Russia or whoever it may be," Trump told reporters later in the day.
On Monday, May said it was highly likely Moscow was to blame for last week's poison attack on Russian-born double agent Sergei Skripal, a former officer with Russia's GRU military intelligence, and his daughter.
Scientists at the UK's military research laboratory at Porton Down have identified the poison used against Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury as Novichok, a Russian military nerve agent developed during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has criticized the UK's accusations, saying in a statement they were "openly provocative" and part of "yet another dirty attempt by British authorities to discredit Russia." Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there was no proof the poison used against Skripal came from Russia.
Britain's threats of retaliatory actions "will not be left without a response," the Foreign Ministry said.
A ministry spokeswoman later added that Russia would not allow British media outlets to operate on its soil if the license of Russian state-owned channel RT is canceled. Earlier, the UK broadcasting regulator warned that RT might have its British license revoked if London concludes Moscow was behind the attack.
"Not a single British media outlet will work in our country if they shut down Russia Today," said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, adding that "nobody should threaten a nuclear power."
Poisoning has been used by intelligence agencies for over a century and the latest alleged victim is Putin critic Alexei Navalny. Toxins and even nerve agents, hidden in food or drink, are often the weapons of choice.
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Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital in Siberia after being taken ill on a flight to Moscow. His aides allege he was poisoned in revenge for his campaigns against corruption. The 44-year-old ex-lawyer apparently only drank black tea before taking off from Omsk airport, which his team think was laced with a toxin that put him in a coma.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/K. Kudrayavtsev
Pyotr Verzilov
In 2018, Russian-Canadian activist Pyotr Verzilov was reported to be in a critical condition after allegedly being poisoned in Moscow. It happened shortly after he gave a TV interview criticizing Russia's legal system. Verzilov, the unofficial spokesman for the rock group Pussy Riot, was transferred to a hospital in Berlin where doctors said it was "highly probable" that he had been poisoned.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/A. Novoderezhkin
Sergei Skripal
Sergei Skripal, a 66-year-old former Russian spy, was found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the British city of Salisbury after he was exposed to what was later revealed to be the nerve agent Novichok. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation "tragic" but said, "We don't have information about what could be the cause" of the incident.
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Kim Jong Nam
The estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un was killed on February 13, 2018 at Kuala Lumpur airport after two women allegedly smeared the chemical nerve agent VX on his face. In February, a Malaysian court heard that Kim Jong Nam had been carrying a dozen vials of antidote for the deadly nerve agent VX in his backpack at the time of the poisoning.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Kambayashi
Alexander Litvinenko
Former Russian spy Litvinenko had worked for the Federal Security Service (FSB) before he defected to Britain, where he became a journalist and wrote two books of accusations against the FSB and Putin. He became ill after meeting with two former KGB officers and died on November 23, 2006. A government inquiry found he was killed by radioactive polonium-210 which it alleged the men put in his tea.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kaptilkin
Viktor Kalashnikov
In November 2010, doctors at Berlin's Charité hospital discovered high levels of mercury had been found in a Russian dissident couple working in Berlin. Kalashnikov, a freelance journalist and former KGB colonel, had 3.7 micrograms of mercury per litre of blood, while his wife had 56 micrograms. A safe level is 1-3 micrograms. Viktor reportedly told German magazine Focus that "Moscow poisoned us."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/RIA Novosti
Viktor Yushchenko
Ukrainian opposition leader Yushchenko became sick in September 2004 and was diagnosed with acute pancreatis caused by a viral infection and chemical substances. The illness resulted in facial disfigurement, with pockmarks, bloating and jaundice. Doctors said the changes to his face were from chloracne, which is a result of dioxin poisoning. Yushchenko claimed government agents poisoned him.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Leodolter
Khaled Meshaal
On September 25, 1997, Israel's intelligence agency attempted to assassinate Hamas leader Meshaal, under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two agents sprayed a poisonous substance into Meshaal's ear as he walked into the Hamas offices in Amman, Jordan. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful and not long afterward the two Israeli agents were captured.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Sazonov
Georgi Markov
In 1978, Bulgarian dissident Markov was waiting at a bus stop after a shift at the BBC when he felt a sharp jab in his thigh. He turned to see a man picking up an umbrella. A small bump appeared where he felt the jab and four days later he died. An autopsy found he'd been killed by a small pellet containing a 0.2-milligram dose of ricin. Many believe the poisoned dart was fired from the umbrella.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/epa/Stringer
Grigori Rasputin
On December 30, 1916, mystic and spiritual healer Rasputin arrived at Yusupov Palace in St Petersburg at the invitation Prince Felix Yusupov. There, Prince Yusupov offered Rasputin cakes laced with potassium cyanide but he just kept eating them. Yusupov then gave him wine in a cyanide-laced wine glasses, but still Rasputin continued to drink. With the poison failing, Rasputin was shot and killed.
