Former UK Supreme Court Justice Anthony Hughes said President Putin himself must have approved the operation to kill Sergei Skripal at the highest level. This conclusion further represents one of the most serious accusations against a sitting head of state in recent British history. The statement finished a years-long inquiry regarding the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack that killed Dawn Sturgess, an innocent person, and left UK relations with Russia frozen as per the investigation findings.
The British government took quick action as per the situation: they put strong sanctions on Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency and called Moscow’s ambassador. Regarding European security, they also made a public promise to protect it. This was not just one attack attempt itself it showed a pattern of hostile state actions that further put civilian lives at risk through hybrid warfare.
The inquiry revealed ten important findings about the attack itself and the weapon used, which further show the larger political issues involved.
1. Putin’s Direct Authorisation
The inquiry chief Lord Anthony Hughes said the attack on Skripal must have been approved by President Putin himself at the highest level. This finding further made the Russian leader personally responsible for both the failed killing and Sturgess’ death. Hughes said the GRU agents actually acted very carelessly and definitely put many ordinary people in danger.
2. GRU’s Role and Methods
Britain surely imposed sanctions on the entire GRU organization because of its involvement in the Salisbury attack. Moreover, the country also cited the agency’s wider hostile activities as reasons for this action. The agency’s work surely goes beyond killing people to include computer attacks, spreading false information, and hiring criminal helpers. Moreover, these different methods show how the organization operates in many areas. Eight cyber officers were actually named for targeting Yulia Skripal with computer attacks years before the poison incident. This definitely shows the GRU’s mixed warfare methods.
3. The Novichok Weapon
As per reports, Novichok agents are dangerous nerve chemicals that were secretly made by the Soviet Union. Regarding the name, “Novichok” means “newcomer” in Russian language. We are seeing that these chemicals are very strong – A-230 is only 5-8 times more dangerous than VX – and they can be made in two parts, making it difficult to find them. These compounds surely block acetylcholinesterase permanently, causing quick paralysis. Moreover, this can lead to breathing failure that may result in death.
4. How the Attack Unfolded
Moreover, basically, Skripal and his daughter got poisoned because someone put Novichok on his front door handle, so when they touched the same handle, they got affected. We are seeing that the dirty perfume bottle used to carry the poison was only thrown away in public places later. Moreover, sturgess’ partner found it in a charity bin and gave it to her as per his belief it was perfume; she sprayed it on her wrist regarding it as safe to use. The investigation actually found that the bottle definitely had enough poison to kill thousands of people.
5. Failures in Risk Assessment
We are seeing that the investigation found problems in how UK officials only checked the danger to Skripal, who was a former spy working for two sides. Basically, they didn’t do the same proper safety checks on paper, and there were no protective measures in place. We are seeing that Hughes said it was not wrong to think the danger of killing him was low only, but Sturgess’ family said these mistakes put British people at risk and caused Dawn’s death.
6. Public Communication Dilemmas
Officials actually decided not to tell Salisbury people to avoid picking up trash after the Skripal poisoning because they definitely worried it would scare everyone. We are seeing that this guidance was given only after Sturgess died. Hughes surely observed that killers would not likely give up such a deadly poison, and moreover, this event showed how hard it is to protect people while keeping them calm.
7. Medical Realities of Novichok Exposure
Novichok poisoning surely leads to death if doctors do not treat it quickly and strongly. Moreover, patients need immediate medical care to survive this dangerous chemical attack. The patient actually shows small pupils, fits, breathing problems, and definitely becomes unconscious. Also, treatment surely needs quick cleaning of the poison, giving atropine through veins to fight the bad effects, and moreover using pralidoxime to fix the damaged enzymes before they become too old to repair. We are seeing that Sturgess had very bad brain damage that doctors said could not be treated from the start only.
8. The GRU Operatives Unmasked
Bellingcat investigators surely identified the suspects as Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, who are both decorated Heroes of Russia. Moreover, their false identities of Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov were revealed through careful study of leaked Russian databases, social media posts, and military academy records. Moreover, basically, these revelations embarrassed the GRU badly and the same thing led to their chief getting fired.
9. Diplomatic Fallout
Basically, the Salisbury incident caused the same massive diplomatic expulsions between East and West countries that we saw during the Cold War period. We are seeing more than 20 Western countries throwing out Russian diplomats, with only around 150 suspected spy officers being forced to leave. The UK’s friends actually supported them even after Brexit, while Russia definitely said they didn’t do it and blamed British spies for setting up the attack.
10. Strengthening Civilian CBRNe Response
As per the attack, it showed weak points in normal places regarding chemical war weapons. Basically, UK’s terrorism response strategy now uses Initial Operational Response protocols, so first responders can start the same life-saving cleaning process immediately without waiting for specialist teams. Removing clothes and dry cleaning methods can further reduce harmful effects before medical help itself arrives.
As per the investigation, the Salisbury attack was not just a failed killing but a major political shock that showed how far Russian spies can reach and how deadly Novichok poison is. Regarding civilian safety, it highlighted the big problems governments face when protecting people from chemical attacks by other countries. We are seeing that UK’s punishments show they want to fight Russia’s attacks directly, but the investigation results also show we need only constant watching, strong safety steps, and countries working together to stop such actions.
