Putin 'astonishingly reckless' for ordering Novichok poisoning of ex-Russian spy

VLADIMIR Putin was "astonishingly reckless" when he ordered the deployment of chemical weapon Novichok in Britain, the Salisbury poisonings inquiry has concluded.

- MARTYN BROWN

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Hughes, who led the investigation, concluded that the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal "must have been authorised at the highest level, by President Putin".

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died four months after the 2018 attempted hit on Mr Skripal.

She had sprayed herself with the nerve agent, which was hidden in a perfume bottle by Putin's GRU military intelligence agents.

The bottle contained "enough poison to kill thousands of people", the £8.3million Dawn Sturgess Inquiry said.

Lessons

But Dawn's relatives criticised its final report for failing to include recommendations aimed at stopping another tragedy.

Her father, Stan Sturgess said the family "can have Dawn back now. She's been public for seven years. We can finally put her to peace". But the Sturgesses went on to say: "Today's report has left us with some answers but also a number of unanswered questions. We have always wanted to ensure that what happened to Dawn will not happen to others; that lessons should be learned; and that meaningful changes should be made. The report today contains no recommendations. That is a matter of real concern.

"There should, there must, be reflection and real change."

Dawn's family pointed to a lack of risk assessment for double agent Mr Skripal, a former GRU officer who also spied for MI6. He was jailed in Russia for 13 years but moved to the UK in 2010 following a prisoner swap and was pardoned by Putin.