UK Police's Interview About Attack On Skripals Failed To Clarify Incident -Russian Embassy

The recent interview of UK police officers about the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK city of Salisbury has not shed light on what happened in reality and just constituted an attempt to fill the information gap about the incident, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom said on Saturday.

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2018) The recent interview of UK police officers about the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the UK city of Salisbury has not shed light on what happened in reality and just constituted an attempt to fill the information gap about the incident, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom said on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, The Guardian newspaper published an interview with Sergeant Tracey Holloway and Police Constable Alex Collins, who spoke about the details of the incident in Salisbury, in particular, about how they rescued the Skripals.

"We once again draw your attention to the fact that the investigation is being carried out in a nontransparent manner and all the details are being hidden both from the Russian side and the UK general public ... Speaking about the mentioned publication, it just as all other speculations in UK media concerning the issue does not contain any new elements which would help to clarify and give the understanding of what in reality happened in Salisbury on March 4," the spokesman said.

The embassy added that the interview was aimed at eliminating the recent information vacuum regarding the Skripal case and sought to distract the UK population from the situation with Brexit.

"We have already read a book about Sergei Skripal, watched a BBC movie on what happened in Salisbury. It is time official London finally provided at least preliminary results of the probe into the incident which should be based on strong evidence," the spokesman said.

On March 4, Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury. London said they had been subject to poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent. London accused Moscow of staging the attack, saying it suspected Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov of executing the poisoning and claiming they worked for Russia's intelligence.

However, Moscow has repeatedly noted that London has not provided any evidence proving its role in the poisoning. Petrov and Boshirov, in their turn, denied their involvement in the attack in an interview with the RT broadcaster. They said they indeed visited Salisbury this spring, but arrived there for tourist purposes, noting that they worked for the fitness industry.

Russia has said it has sent over 70 diplomatic notes to the United Kingdom calling for cooperation in the case. London, however, left them unanswered, instead claiming that Moscow has refused to cooperate on the issue.