LONDON: British police have identified more than 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in their investigation into a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter, interior minister Amber Rudd said on Saturday.
Former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital in a critical condition since Sunday, when they were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury.
“The two victims remain in hospital and they’re critical but stable,” Rudd told reporters after chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra security committee.
Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before his arrest in Moscow in 2004. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006, and in 2010 was given refuge in Britain after being exchanged for Russian spies.
Many in British media and politics have speculated that Russia could have played a part in the attack on Skripal, but Rudd reiterated that it was too early to say who was responsible, and police should be given the time and space to determine the facts.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident and accused the British media of whipping up anti-Russian hysteria.
But some in Britain say the nerve agent attack fits a pattern of suspicious Russian-related deaths in the UK and in the United States, and are calling for a high level police investigation into whether Britain has become a killing ground for the state-sanctioned elimination of foes of the Russian government.
The brazen assault has not been formally blamed on the Russian government, but it is raising hard questions on how to deal with Russia’s increasingly aggressive stance — even as officials in the US are trying to determine how to respond to Russian interference in US elections.
Several politicians, analysts and intelligence agencies believe the case of Skripal, who moved to Britain after he was freed in 2010, may prove to be the work of the Russian government, Russian organized crime groups, or a fluid alliance of the two.
“Russian leaders seem to go out of their way to get rid of anybody that seems to be in their way, someone who’s betrayed them, someone who’s interrupting the money flow, and they don’t seem to care about borders, they just go wherever they have to go to get their guy,” said Joe Serio, the American author of “Investigating the Russian Mafia,” who spent nearly ten years with the anti-organized crime unit of Moscow’s police.
“Britain happens to be one of the central places where Russians flee. It’s the gateway to the West, the seat of the language, the seat of the empire, the seat of major finance,” he said.
Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Home Affairs committee in Parliament that reviews police and intelligence matters, and Ian Blair, former head of the Metropolitan Police that is spearheading the inquiry, both said this week that a string of unexplained deaths must be investigated in light of the latest attack. Cooper cited a BuzzFeed News investigation into 14 deaths that may have been the result of foul play.
“No attempt on an innocent life on British soil should go uninvestigated or unpunished,” said Cooper, who called for the National Crime Agency to scrutinize the 14 deaths in light of reports that US intelligence officials believe they may be linked to Russia — even though British police have not reached the same conclusion in most cases.
There was also a chilling message from Moscow in the days after the attack on Skripal, delivered by a Russian state television news anchorman who warned potential double agents they should expect a shortened life span in Britain.
UK police identify over 200 witnesses in nerve agent attack, minister
UK police identify over 200 witnesses in nerve agent attack, minister
Afghan mothers seek hospital help for malnourished children
- Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid
- Drought and the fallout of Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan add to the economic woes
HERAT: Najiba, 24, keeps a constant watch over her baby, Artiya, one of around four million children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year in Afghanistan.
After suffering a bout of pneumonia at three months old, Artiya’s condition deteriorated and his parents went from hospital to hospital trying to find help.
“I did not get proper rest or good food,” affecting her ability to produce breast milk, Najiba said at Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan.
“These days, I do not have enough milk for my baby.”
The distressed mother, who chose not to give her surname for privacy reasons, said the family earns a living from an electric supplies store run by her husband.
Najiba and her husband spent their meagre savings trying to get care for Artiya, before learning that he has a congenital heart defect.
To her, “no one can understand what I’m going through. No one knows how I feel every day, here with my child in this condition.”
“The only thing I have left is to pray that my child gets better,” she said.
John Aylieff, Afghanistan director at the World Food Programme (WFP), said women are “sacrificing their own health and their own nutrition to feed their children.”
Artiya has gained weight after several weeks at the therapeutic nutrition center in the Herat hospital, where colorful drawings of balloons and flowers adorn the walls.
Mothers such as Najiba, who are grappling with the reality of not being able to feed their children, receive psychological support.
Meanwhile, Artiya’s father is “knocking on every door just to borrow money” which could fund an expensive heart operation on another ward, Najiba said.
‘STAGGERING’ SCALE
On average, 315 to 320 malnourished children are admitted each month to the center, which is supported by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The number of cases has steadily increased over the past five years, according to Hamayoun Hemat, MSF’s deputy coordinator in Herat.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid, as well as drought and the economic fallout of five million Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan.
“In 2025, we’d already seen the highest surge in child malnutrition recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 21st century,” Aylieff said in Kabul.
The crisis is only set to worsen this year, he told AFP: “A staggering four million children in this country will be malnourished and will require treatment.”
“These children will die if they’re not treated.”
WFP is seeking $390 million to feed six million Afghans over the next six months, but Aylieff said the chance of getting such funds is “so bleak.”
Pledges of solidarity from around the globe, made after the Taliban government imposed its strict interpretation of Islamic law, have done little to help Afghan women, the WFP director said.
They are now “watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms,” he said.
‘NO HOPE’
In the country of more than 40 million people, there are relatively few medical centers that can help treat malnutrition.
Some families travel hundreds of kilometers (miles) to reach Herat hospital as they lack health care facilities in their home provinces.
Wranga Niamaty, a nurse team supervisor, said they often receive patients in the “last stage” where there is “no hope” for their survival.
Still, she feels “proud” for those she can rescue from starvation.
In addition to treating the children, the nursing team advises women on breastfeeding, which is a key factor in combating malnutrition.
Single mothers who have to work as cleaners or in agriculture are sometimes unable to produce enough milk, often due to dehydration, nurse Fawzia Azizi said.
The clinic has been a lifesaver for Jamila, a 25-year-old mother who requested her surname not be used out of privacy concerns.
Jamila’s eight-month-old daughter has Down’s syndrome and is also suffering from malnutrition, despite her husband sending money back from Iran where he works.
Wrapped in a floral veil, Jamila said she fears for the future: “If my husband is expelled from Iran, we will die of hunger.”
