Contents tagged with Skripal case

  • US introduces sanctions against Russian defense sector

    The US State Department announced on Tuesday that it has added to the sanctions on Russia’s defense sector.

    Among those Russian companies to be newly blacklisted for violating the sanctions on Syria, Iran and North Korea are the Avangard plant in Moscow, which produces missiles for S-300 and S-400 aerial defense systems, and the Instrument Design Bureau in Tula, one of the largest Russian defense enterprises, which develops precision weapons, including Pantsir anti-air missile systems.

    The …

  • US State Department prepares second package of sanctions against Russia for Skripal poisonings

    The US Department of State sent a second package of sanctions related to the poisonings of a former officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter which took place in the UK to the head of department, Mike Pompeo, and the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

    Deputy Secretary of State Andrea Thompson spoke on the issue at a Senate hearing, as reported by Radio Svoboda.

    Thompson called the new sanctions part of an expanded strategy towards …

  • Russian diplomats intend to meet the son of ‘Novichok’ poisoning victim

    The Russian Embassy in Great Britain expressed its readiness to meet with the son of the Dawn Sturgess, who died after being exposed to a nerve agent, which also affected Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia, informs the Russian service of Radio Liberty.

    According to the Russian news agency TASS, the diplomatic mission noted that they intend to send Evan Hope the "Salisbury: questions without answers" report, prepared for the anniversary of the incident in Salisbury.

    "The embassy is ready to …

  • Suspected Russian spy detained in Sweden

    Deutsche Welle reports that the Swedish State Security Service (SEPO) detained a man suspected of spying for Russia in Stockholm. 

    SEPO suspects that the detainee has been involved in espionage activities since at least 2017. He could have been recruited by a Russian intelligence agent working under diplomatic cover. 

    The detainee worked in the field of advanced technologies, in particular, with information that is of interest to foreign intelligence services, notes SEPO. 

    In December 2018, …

  • Russian Embassy in UK calls Russian flag hoisted on Salisbury Cathedral 'a provocation'

    The Russian Embassy in London considers the appearance of a Russian flag on the Cathedral in Salisbury a provocation, stated the Press Secretary of the Russian Diplomatic Mission on Sunday.

    "We have no official information about this. If it is true that a Russian flag was hoisted on the, in our opinion, it looks like a real provocation,” the diplomat said.

    He added that almost a year after the poisoning in Salisbury, Britain still has not provided any evidence of Russia's involvement in the …

  • US Secretary of State calls Lavrov to inform about new sanctions against Russia

    US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which he announced Washington’s intention to impose additional sanctions against the Russian Federation, reported the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

    “In connection with the US Secretary of State’s intention to impose additional sanctions on Russia under the absolutely unproven excuse of last year’s turbid story of the alleged “poisoning” of S.B. Skripal and his …

  • Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warns Pompeo against sanctions for Skripals poisoning

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have recently spoken over the phone at the latter’s initiative, the Russian foreign policy department reported on Tuesday. 

    The officials discussed two main topics. 

    The first was the possible imposition of new sanctions on Russia due to the poisoning of former GRU agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK. Lavrov warned that this would cause further deterioration in the two countries’ relations and …

  • Bulgarian parliamentary commission will hold hearings to discuss 2015 Novichok poisoning attempt on Bulgarian businessman

    On Thursday, February 14, the Parliamentary Commission for Control of the Security Services of Bulgaria will gather for hearings regarding the assassination attempt on Bulgarian businessman Emilian Gebrev that occurred nearly four years ago. According to the investigations by The Insider and Bellingcat, in April 2015, Gebrev was poisoned with the Russian nerve agent Novichok or a similar toxin of this group. 

    Investigators noted that Gebrev was poisoned during the same period that a GRU (Main …

  • EU imposes sanctions against the head of Russian military intelligence due to use of chemical weapons

    On January 21st, the EU Council’s press service reported that the EU imposed sanctions against four Russians, five Syrians and one Syrian company as part of the new sanctions package for the use of chemical weapons.

    The restrictive measures concern two officials of the GRU (The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces), as well as the head and deputy head of the GRU responsible for the storage, transportation, and use in Salisbury (United Kingdom) of a poisonous nerve …

  • EU prepares sanctions against four Russian military intelligence officers

    The ambassadors of 28 EU countries agreed impose of sanctions against four Russian military intelligence officers, TASS reports with reference to its sources in EU council. Among them are Russians suspected of attempting to kill Sergei and Yulia Skripal, known as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. The names of the other two people, the diplomat did not name. They will be known after the EU Council approves the decision of the ambassadors. "As expected, the foreign ministers will approve this …