UK Believes Putin Ordered Skripal’s Assassination
The UK government believes Vladimir Putin ordered the Salisbury nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal due to Skripal’s possession of information about Putin’s alleged embezzlement of profits from metals production. A leading intelligence official accepted Skripal’s assertion that this information was the motive, citing Skripal’s GRU background and the pervasive corruption within the Russian government. The inquiry heard that Foreign Office experts deemed Putin’s direct involvement likely given the audacious nature of the attack. While Putin dismissed Skripal as a traitor and downplayed the poisoning of Dawn Sturgess, the intelligence official characterized Putin’s comments as callous and dismissive.
John Q. Hosedrinker