Russian Embassy Suspects Salisbury 'Disinfection' Meant for Evidence Destruction

Russian embassy in London, UK, expressed its suspicion that the so-called disinfection in Salisbury could be attempt to destroy evidence in Skripal poisoning case.

The Russian Embassy in London suspects that the so-called "disinfection" in Salisbury is in fact an operation to destroy British evidence in the Skripal poisoning case, an embassy official told Sputnik on Tuesday.

The UK government stated earlier that cleanup work was underway in Salisbury to decontaminate a total of nine potentially affected sites. The communications officer at the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported that the Salisbury police station site, ambulance stations at Amesbury and Salisbury and the Maltings Park would be reopened in 2 months.

According to Russian Embassy official, the embassy noted a number of inconsistencies in the arguments presented by the British side. In particular, if so many places in the city were infected and the poisonous substance in question does not evaporate, then it is strange that only three people were poisoned — the Skripals and UK police officer Nick Bailey.

"These inconsistencies, which are visible to the naked eye, lead us to suspect that the so-called disinfection, which includes 'the burning of potentially contaminated objects,' is in fact an attempt to destroy important and valuable material evidence, if, of course, there is something to prove," the official stressed.

Former Russian GRU colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were reportedly target of a nerve agent attack last month in the city of Salisbury, England. The UK government then was quick to accuse Russia of being responsible for the attack, claiming that the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok was used in the poisoning.

Russia has refuted all allegations of any role in the poisoning, pointing to the complete lack of evidence provided by London to support such allegations and requested samples of the chemical substance. Moscow has also offered to participate in a joint investigation as per international law, but has been denied.

Nevertheless, London announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomatic workers after the incident. Over two dozen countries have since expelled Russian diplomats "in solidarity" with London.