London: Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal is no longer in critical condition and has responded well to treatment after a nerve agent attack last month, the hospital treating him said on Friday.
“He is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition,” Christine Blanshard, Medical Director at Salisbury District Hospital, said in a statement.
This follows on the earlier recovery of his daughter, 33-year-old Yulia, who was also targeted in the attempted poisoning in Salisbury.
On Thursday, Russian state television reported Yulia had phoned her cousin and told her that she and her father were both recovering and that she expected to leave hospital soon.
Russia told Britain at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that “you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry” over its accusations that Moscow was to blame for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.
It was the second showdown between Russia and Britain at the world body since the March 4 nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Russia, which requested Thursday’s council meeting, denies any involvement.
The attack has had major diplomatic ramifications, with mass expulsions of Russian and Western diplomats. The 15-member Security Council first met over the issue on March 14 at Britain’s request.
“We have told our British colleagues that ‘you’re playing with fire and you’ll be sorry’,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said during a more than 30-minute speech that attempted to poke holes in Britain’s allegations against Moscow.
Meanwhile, Germany finds Britain’s assertions that Russia has a continuing program of developing Novichok nerve toxins “very plausible,” a government spokeswoman told a regular news conference on Friday.
Spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer declined to comment on whether Germany had similar intelligence relating to the toxin, allegedly used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain last month.
She added that alleged Russian involvement in the poison attack fitted into a pattern of Russian activities over recent years, including military invasions and attacks on former spies in other countries.
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Former Russian agent Sergei Skripal no longer in critical condition
Former Russian agent Sergei Skripal no longer in critical condition
- Sergei Skripal “is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition.”
- Skripal’s 33-year-old daughter Yulia, who was also targeted in the attempted poisoning in Salisbury, had earlier recovered.
Ukrainians defy cold, Russian strikes at sub-zero street party
KYIV: Music blasts from speakers and lights strobe in the dark as revellers, clad in puffer jackets and bobble hats, brave Kyiv’s freezing cold at an outdoor party despite blackouts triggered by Russian strikes.
Moscow has been pummelling Ukraine’s power grid with drones and missiles, plunging millions into darkness and cold as temperatures dip as low as -20C.
“People are tired of sitting without power, feeling sad... It’s a psychological burden on everyone’s mental health,” Olena Shvydka, who threw the street party with the support of her neighbors, told AFP.
“Now we’re letting off some steam, so to speak.”
Across the country, around 58,000 workers were racing to restore power, with additional crews deployed to the capital where, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the situation was “extremely tough.”
A massive Russian strike on Kyiv cut off heating to half the city’s apartment buildings earlier this month.
The ongoing hours-long power outages are the worst yet of the war, which will hit the four-year mark next month.
In Shvydka’s building, equipped with a generator, heating is “almost always” there but the blackouts have been dragging on for hours.
“We didn’t have electricity for 18 hours two days ago, then for 17 hours three days ago,” she said. This was when the idea for the street party was born.
- ‘Civilized resistance’ -
“In our community chat, we decided to do something to support the general spirit of our residential complex,” Yevgeniy, Shvydka’s neighbor, told AFP.
“Despite the very difficult situation, people want to hold on and celebrate. And they are waiting for victory no matter what,” said Yevgeniy, a retired military officer who did not give his full name.
When neighbors started setting up generators, mixers and lights, “the temperature was about -10C. Now it’s probably -15C or more,” Shvydka said.
Clutching hot drinks in paper cups, warming around braziers or bopping to the thudding music, the crowd was undeterred, refusing to cave in despite the ongoing Russian invasion.
“What the Russians are trying to do to us is instil fear, anxiety, and hatred,” Olga Pankratova, a mother of three and a former army officer, told AFP.
“These kinds of gatherings provide some kind of civilized resistance to the force that is being directed at us — rockets, explosions, flashes. It unites us,” Pankratova said.
The loudspeakers started blasting Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.”
Hands in the air, the revellers belted out the rock anthem’s lyrics.
“It is impossible to defeat these people,” Yevgeniy said, looking around the party.
“The situation is very difficult — but the people are invincible.”
Moscow has been pummelling Ukraine’s power grid with drones and missiles, plunging millions into darkness and cold as temperatures dip as low as -20C.
“People are tired of sitting without power, feeling sad... It’s a psychological burden on everyone’s mental health,” Olena Shvydka, who threw the street party with the support of her neighbors, told AFP.
“Now we’re letting off some steam, so to speak.”
Across the country, around 58,000 workers were racing to restore power, with additional crews deployed to the capital where, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the situation was “extremely tough.”
A massive Russian strike on Kyiv cut off heating to half the city’s apartment buildings earlier this month.
The ongoing hours-long power outages are the worst yet of the war, which will hit the four-year mark next month.
In Shvydka’s building, equipped with a generator, heating is “almost always” there but the blackouts have been dragging on for hours.
“We didn’t have electricity for 18 hours two days ago, then for 17 hours three days ago,” she said. This was when the idea for the street party was born.
- ‘Civilized resistance’ -
“In our community chat, we decided to do something to support the general spirit of our residential complex,” Yevgeniy, Shvydka’s neighbor, told AFP.
“Despite the very difficult situation, people want to hold on and celebrate. And they are waiting for victory no matter what,” said Yevgeniy, a retired military officer who did not give his full name.
When neighbors started setting up generators, mixers and lights, “the temperature was about -10C. Now it’s probably -15C or more,” Shvydka said.
Clutching hot drinks in paper cups, warming around braziers or bopping to the thudding music, the crowd was undeterred, refusing to cave in despite the ongoing Russian invasion.
“What the Russians are trying to do to us is instil fear, anxiety, and hatred,” Olga Pankratova, a mother of three and a former army officer, told AFP.
“These kinds of gatherings provide some kind of civilized resistance to the force that is being directed at us — rockets, explosions, flashes. It unites us,” Pankratova said.
The loudspeakers started blasting Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.”
Hands in the air, the revellers belted out the rock anthem’s lyrics.
“It is impossible to defeat these people,” Yevgeniy said, looking around the party.
“The situation is very difficult — but the people are invincible.”
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