All the theories Russia is pushing to claim they weren't behind the nerve agent attack on a former spy in the UK by Alexandra Ma on Mar 16, 2018, 10:37 AM Advertisement
 Britain has accused Russia of trying to kill former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a deadly nerve agent — but the Kremlin is fighting back. The UK blamed Russia partly on the grounds that Novichok, the poison used in the attack, was developed in the former Soviet Union. Allies including the US, France, and Germany have agreed that this is the only plausible explanation. Regardless, the Kremlin has denied all involvement. Instead Russian officials and state media outlets have promoted numerous alternative theories which they claim could lead to the real culprits. Scroll down to read what they are. SEE ALSO: Putin is thought to be testing how isolated Britain is after Brexit — and he won't like the results 1. Ukraine did it using leftover Soviet chemical weapons.  Nikolay Kovalev, the former director of Russia's secret service (FSB), pointed the finger at Ukraine because the former Soviet Union republic could have stockpiled the nerve agent used to attack Skripal. Novichok, the deadly nerve agent identified in the poisoning, was developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The state-backed RT TV network cited Kovalev as saying: "Given that [such substances] were stockpiled in former Soviet Union republics – sorry, but Ukrainian involvement can’t be ruled out." State TV Rossiya1 also presented the theory that Ukraine was behind the attack, Russian news analyst Julia Davis pointed out. Russia-Ukraine relations remain tense as their argument over the annexation of Crimea continues. Moscow has blamed the former Soviet republic for various international disasters, such as the downing of the MH17 passenger plane over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
2. Britain did it because Brexit is going badly.  Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin former politician and director of Moscow's Institute of Political Studies, accused British intelligence of orchestrating the attack to distract the public from domestic politics and Brexit negotiations. He told Al Jazeera: "Theresa May has a lot of problems because of the failure in the parliamentary elections, Brexit, and the complicated situation with the border between Ireland and the Northern Ireland. "So the British intelligence service probably organised the killing of Mr Skripal, sacrificing the guy who they don't need any more."
3. Britain did it because they were worried Skripal would turn on them.  This was the view put forward by ultranationalist Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is also running in the upcoming presidential election on March 18. According to The Guardian, Zhirinovsky suggested that UK intelligence agencies could have poisoned Skripal because "he was of no more use to them" and feared that the ex-Russian spy would sell on their state secrets.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment