MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2020) Russia's ex-double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who were targets of an alleged chemical attack in the United Kingdom's Salisbury, have moved to New Zealand, the Sunday Times newspaper reported on Sunday, citing senior UK government sources.
According to the newspaper, the Skripals were given new identities and support to start a new life in New Zealand after they had lived in a safe house of MI6, the UK external intelligence service, for more than a year.
Meanwhile, Viktoria Skripal, the niece of the former intelligence officer told Sputnik that she knew nothing about her uncle's move to New Zealand and did not believe in media reports.
"I do not know anything about it. But I do not believe in it. Their participation in the witness protection program and relocation has been discussed for a long time. Then, New Zealand, the US and Australia [were under consideration]. But I believe that they are still at Porton Down [a military science park in the UK near Salisbury]. It is cheaper for the UK government to support them [there] than in New Zealand, and they do not have enough money to support themselves there," Viktoria Skripal said.
The niece also said that the Skripals needed medical supervision, which they could only receive in Porton Down, adding that the media reports may be a deceptive maneuver.
In March 2018, Skripal and his daughter Yulia 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 and said that Moscow played a role in the incident, but Russia has refuted the allegations.
Moscow has repeatedly noted that London has not provided any evidence proving its role in the poisoning. 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.
