Poisoned Daughter Of Russian Spy Released From Hospital

LONDON Yulia Skripal has been released from a hospital after being poisoned alongside her father Sergei, a former Russian spy, on March 4.

“This is not the end of her treatment but marks a significant milestone,” Christine Blanshard, medical director at Salisbury District Hospital, said Tuesday at a news conference.

Blanshard said the team of doctors worked to stabilize Skripal and her father to ensure proper blood circulation. She described how a nerve agent attacks the body, with symptoms that include sickness and hallucinations.

“We then needed to use a variety of different drugs to support the patients until they could create more enzymes to replace those affected by the poisoning,” Blanshard said. 

Skripal’s father, Sergei V. Skripal, was taking longer to recover. Blanshard said she expects to discharge him from the hospital “in due course.”

The Russian embassy in the U.K. congratulated Skripal on her recovery, but said it needed proof that “what is being done to her is done on her own free will.”

The discovery of Skripal and her father slumped over on a park bench last month has sparked a diplomatic blowup between Russia and Western countries. The U.K., backed by many of its allies, was quick to blame Moscow for the attack. The nerve agent used to poison the Skripals, Novichok , was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. 

Russia forcefully denied any involvement in the poisoning, prompting the U.K. to expel 23 Russian diplomats . Two dozen more countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada and a handful of European nations, followed suit and kicked out more than 100 diplomats . The Kremlin retaliated and carried out its own expulsions .

What happens now remains unclear. Skripal may claim asylum in the U.K., her cousin, Viktoria Skripal, told Sky News.