Is there a thread about the poisoning of Skripal? [title edited by MNHQ]

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I've not seen a thread about it at all, but surely there must be?

When did the police officer enter the house, do we know?

A good point is just being made on the news that helplines should have been set up for those who may have come into contact with them or the substances.

Kitten it has been reported that neighbours say the police arrived at the house around 5pm - very early on given that the air and land ambulances transporting the Russians were reported to have left the Maltings at 5.10pm.

It seems that the police thought they were dealing with an ordinary drugs-related incident at that time.

Thanks :) I wonder what gave them cause for entry.

what are all the photos of cars being taken away

Does anyone know where they are being taken to?

Does anyone know where they are being taken to?

No, it's not been announced, but given that the UK national centre for chemical and biological weapon research is just down the road, then there's an obvious assumption.

Detective Sergeants don't walk about Salisbury very often. We don't even get normal Police about

whatshappening

I see Nick out and about loads (obviously before this happened) and I’ve never been to Salisbury town centre and not seen police officers and support officers

PM just confirmed in the House of Commons that it was a Novichok.

Intelligence states that Russia 'highly likely to be responsible'

May put it in a binary way, either the Russian government had used Nerve Agent deliberately against the UK mainland, or they have lost control of their stocks of chemical weapons.

I think it looks like the former. Given Putin's history and views on 'traitors', as well as the election tampering intel that Skripal was apparently involved in.

Well it was Russia.

Given Putin's history and views on 'traitors', as well as the election tampering intel that Skripal was apparently involved in

Sorry I’ve missed this I think!

Skripal was involved in election tampering or was about to give information on who was doing that to British intelligence?

So what happens next.
How do we punish Putin?
He’s a bully & sometimes the only way to defeat a bully is to hit back harder..........not always physically.
There must be some serious dirt on Putin or something about/in him that could make him crumble?
Or give him enough rope to hang himself.

He was rumoured to be linked to the ongoing election tampering issues.

You don't earn a high level assassination attempt like this just because you were a spy a couple of decades ago, particularly if you have already done time in Russia for it and were voluntarily exchanged.

The UK will probably respond with sanctions on high level Russian officials.

We can’t just go in and give Putin a bloody nose - history tells us that those who try to walk into mother Russia tend to fare rather badly.

What is worrying is the sheer ‘fuck you’ and audacious nature of it - Russia has been pushing the edges of what’s acceptable for a while now. We’ve had submarines in the archipelago down in Stockholm, and fighter jets in our airspace. The UK is regularly escorting fighters away from their airspace. The troops in Ukraine, the annexation of the Crimea, etc. It all points to a Russia flexing their muscles. The question is whether that’s bravado and show or whether it’s leading up to something.

Tory party won't return £820,00 of Russian linked money donated to their party

I’m reading that novichok is designed to cause asphyxiation and ultimately cardiac arrest. Does the fact that, presumably, neither Skirpal has entered cardiac arrest mean there is a better chance of survival do we think?

It’s ghastly. I’m not even sure you’d want to survive an attempt by Russia on your life

Long time lurker but rarely post! You have to wonder if Putin is getting more confident/aggressive given what is happening with Trump. Even if you believe there was no Russia/Trump conspiracy, Trump has demonstrated time and time again absoutely no desire to hold Russia to account for its actions. Putin seems very confident that they can get away with this attack with no meaningful response from NATO.

Am I being stupid here..? How come all 3 people who came into direct contact have survived given that it is supposed to be 5 to 8 times more lethal than VX? I thought it was supposed to kill within minutes?

Pebble, what I’m understanding is that there are multiple strains of it and some are more lethal than VX. This one I guess was not. They’ve not specified which strain.

That’s my interpretation anyway!

Yes I think he is is getting more aggressive. The frankly weedy response to the Litvinenko assassination didn’t help. Nor does the VAST amount of dirty money flowing both ways

All the Novichoks are more potent than V and G series agents.

The nuance comes down to method of exposure and quantity.

Thanks smile I wonder what gave them cause for entry

Someone like Skripal would trigger an instant alert the moment his name is mentioned in a police incident, I should think, and an illness like this would elicit intense intervention very quickly.

Thanks for clarifying Patriarchy, sounds like they’re all powders too so presumably a fairly small quantity and not directly ingested?

Correction...

All the known Novichoks are more potent than V and G series agents.

They aren't all powders.

I can only assume that he must have had it on his skin. If he took it into his mouth or another mucous membrane, it would have been bad news fairly quickly.

Gives some clues as to the method of exposure possibly.

I agree the response to Litvinenko didn't help, but I think the US is a big part of what is going on here. Russia attacked (not meddled, which is a ridiculous phrase) the US presidential election and has not even had any sanctions applied for it. If that isn't carte blanche to do what they want, I don't know what is.

I think we like to think we're a bigger player internationally in the UK than we really are. Part of our strength in the past has been our partnerships - the EU, NATO, USA. All of those look pretty weak right now, it can't be a coincidence that Russia is emboldened.