Sergei Skripal

Sergei Skripal is a former Russian spy who was the target of a Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, in March 2018. This event is newsworthy due to recent findings from a UK public inquiry that Russian President Vladimir Putin bears "moral responsibility" for the death of Dawn Sturgess, an innocent British woman who was inadvertently poisoned by the same Novichok. The inquiry concluded the poisoning was a botched assassination attempt authorized at the highest level. The family of Dawn Sturgess has criticized the UK government for failing to learn lessons from the incident and ensure public safety. The Skripal poisoning and its aftermath highlight ongoing concerns about Russian state-sponsored assassinations and the use of dangerous toxins, as evidenced by recent allegations of Russia using a dart frog toxin in the death of Alexei Navalny.