MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2019) UK Prime Minister Theresa May, on the first anniversary of the poisoning attack against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia in Salisbury, thanked the local community, emergency service workers and the armed forces for their forbearance, which helped the city to recover from "the use of chemical weapons" on the country's streets.
"Today is an important milestone for Salisbury as it emerges from the shadow cast by the use of chemical weapons on the streets of our country. Now, 12 months on, we see this historic city, welcoming thousands of visitors and tourists as it plans for a positive and prosperous future," May said in a statement.
She stressed that it was resolve, forbearance and positivity of the community that helped the city and the "wider region" to fight back from "such a devastating and reckless incident."
"And today is a chance to acknowledge the spirit of the people of this city and I offer my thanks to every single one of them," the prime minister added.
In particular, May thanked emergency service workers and "brave men and women of our armed forces who have led the unprecedented clean-up operation" and praised "remarkable strength" of friends and families of the victims of the poisoning incidents in both Salisbury and Amesbury.
On March 4, Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench near a shopping center in Salisbury. London claimed they were poisoned with a military-grade A234 nerve agent and accused Moscow of staging the attack, provoking a huge international scandal. London also said that it suspected Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, allegedly working for Russian intelligence, of performing the attack.
In July, London also put blame on Russia for the poisoning of two people in the city of Amesbury, who were allegedly exposed to the same nerve agent that was used in Salisbury. Several days after, one of the victims, Dawn Sturgess, died in hospital.
Moscow has categorically dismissed accusations, pointing to the absence of any evidence and London's rejection of its requests to cooperate in investigation and grant access to the poisoned Russian citizens. Petrov and Boshirov, meanwhile, denied their involvement in the attack in an interview with the RT broadcaster, saying that they visited Salisbury just to do sightseeing and actually worked in the fitness industry.
