MI5 is expected to come under fire for leaving ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal “alarmingly accessible” to Kremlin assassins ahead of the Salisbury novichok attack.
In March 2018, Mr Skripal and daughter Yulia were poisoned with the deadly nerve agent in an assassination attempt that had the potential to kill thousands of people.
Authorities have been accused of failing to take even basic steps to protect the former Russian intelligence officer who later spied for MI6.
The “preventable” attack left 44-year-old mother Dawn Sturgess dead, several people in critical condition, and more than 80 hospitalised.
The assassination attempt is said to have had the potential to kill thousands of people
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The inquiry into the death of the mother-of-three, who was accidentally exposed to the nerve agent in a perfume bottle four months after the initial attack, is expected to find that MI5 did not adequately protect Mr Skripal or the public.
It is anticipated to urge the security services to introduce tougher safeguards for other former Russian operatives living in Britain.
Following the release of the report, the Government is expected to impose further sanctions on Russian individuals.
Ministers believe the attempt on Mr Skripal’s life had direct approval from President Putin.
The inquiry is expected to find that MI5 did not adequately protect Mr Skripal or the public
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The former Russian intelligence officer warned that “if [the Russian government] want to kill you they will find a way anywhere”.
The inquiry was told that Mr Skripal was a “sitting duck” in the lead-up to the 2018 attack.
Despite being marked as a “clear and obvious” target that Mr Putin had thought of as a traitor, the ex-spy was relocated to Salisbury under his real name following a prisoner swap.
He had been living in an accessible cul-de-sac in the Wiltshire city, with no CCTV covering the property.
Michael Mansfield KC, representing the family of Ms Sturgess, said: “The movements of the Skripals plus the accessibility of the premises – they’re sitting ducks.
“This should have been foreseen by those responsible for their protection and the public’s protection.”
The barrister described the former intelligence officer as a “marked man, identified by Putin as a turncoat for western intelligence”.
Counsel to the inquiry, Andrew O’Connor KC said the mother-of three was an innocent victim that had been caught up in an “illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt”.
The ‘preventable’ attack left 44-year-old mother Dawn Sturgess dead
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Ex-Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies told the inquiry she had nightmares about someone coming into contact with the discarded nerve agent after the Skripals were poisoned.
She said: ““I remember worrying about it from the moment I knew that Russian agents had been involved, whenever that first was.
“I remember raising this during at least one meeting and becoming reassured, one, that the police were hunting for a discarded vial.
“This led to me later saying publicly that no-one should pick anything up which they had not dropped.”
Russian agents from the GRU intelligence service allegedly posed as tourists to enter the country before leaving the deadly novichock substance on Mr Skripal’s front door.
Three Russian nationals – Anatoliy Chepiga, Alexander Mishkin, and Denis Sergeev – have been charged by prosecutors in connection to the attack, but have since fled the country.
In closing submissions to the inquiry, Mr Mansfield said the poisonings were a result of an “abject failure” by the British Government to protect the wider public.
He added: “We say, the risk of a threat of this kind – that is, an attack on somebody such as Sergei Skripal as a target -was manifestly obvious.”