Moscow Not Ruling Out UK Authorities Holding Skripals Against Their Will

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal was discharged from a Salisbury hospital on May 18, however, since then there has been no information on his subsequent fate.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated that there was a possibility that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are being held by the UK authorities against their will.

"For almost two months, Russia has not been given access to Russian citizens — it's a fact. The second fact is that Russian citizens, in one way or another, are being kept in the UK from contacts, possibly by force, in an unknown place and in an unknown state," she said.

The spokeswoman did not rule out that the Skripals were also being kept from contacting the media.

"We have no idea about their condition. Nothing has prevented London from giving Russian representatives access to Russian citizens," Zakharova noted.

Sergei Skripal was discharged from the hospital, where he was undergoing medical treatment after an alleged poisoning, on May 18. His daughter Yulia left the hospital in the British city of Salisbury in mid-April. Nevertheless, the Russian Foreign Ministry has not been given an opportunity to talk to the Skripals, despite Yulia Skripal being a Russian national.

The ex-colonel of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found in the UK Salisbury on March 4 after allegedly being exposed to a toxic agent. Britain claimed that Moscow was behind the incident and expelled 23 Russian diplomats in retaliation. However, no substantial proof of Moscow's involvement has been presented.

Moscow categorically refutes the UK's allegations, with the Kremlin calling Britain's hostile steps a provocation that was initiated in order to trigger a Russophobic wave in the international community.

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