Russian Embassy In UK Says Russian Flag Unfurled On Salisbury Cathedral 'Provocation'

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published February 18, 2019 | 04:00 AM

Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom called on Sunday the incident with a Russian flag, which appeared on Salisbury cathedral, "a well-staged provocation"

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom called on Sunday the incident with a Russian flag, which appeared on Salisbury cathedral, "a well-staged provocation."

Earlier on Sunday, an unidentified person unfurled a huge Russian flag on the north front of the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the UK city of Salisbury. The flag was removed later.

"We saw these reports, but we do not have any official information on them. If the reports of hoisting a Russian flag are true, then it all looks to us like a well-staged provocation," the spokesperson said.

He recalled that the UK side had failed to present any substantial evidence of Russian involvement in the Salisbury incident, at the same time classifying the case and ignoring Russia's numerous requests to share in formation.

"For this reason we consider the appearance of the Russian flag on the Cathedral to be yet another clumsy attempt to associate Russia with the sad events that took place in Salisbury last March," he concluded.

The city and its landmark cathedral came into an international spotlight after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with what London claimed was the A234 nerve agent in Salisbury in March 2018. The UK authorities accused Russia of staging the attack, the allegations that Moscow has repeatedly denied. On September 5, UK Crown Prosecution Service said that it had sufficient evidence to indict Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov with the attempted murder, while UK Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that the suspects were employees of the Russian military intelligence.

In an interview with the RT broadcaster and Sputnik, Petrov and Boshirov confirmed that they did visit Salisbury but emphasized that they knew nothing about the Skripals and actually worked in the fitness industry. According to the duo, they came to Salisbury on advice of their friends just to look at the sights � the world-famous Salisbury Cathedral.