UK Police Probing for Alleged Skripal Case 'Persons of Interest' - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK police and intelligence agencies claim to have identified key suspects in the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, British media said Saturday.

A breakthrough in the criminal inquiry was allegedly made after investigators studied CCTV footage in Salisbury and flight manifests to and from the United Kingdom, according to The Telegraph daily.

The newspaper reported that the police are trying to build a case against "persons of interest" in the investigation and that they believe those people are now in Russia.

The outlet also quoted David Videcette, a former Metropolitan police detective, speaking on the topic: “There may be circumstantial evidence that shows certain Russians were on certain flights and were also in Salisbury at the time but that doesn’t necessarily prove evidentially that they carried out the attack. I suspect that is where the police have got to so far”.

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on March 4 on a bench at a shopping center in the city of Salisbury, UK. London was quick to accuse Moscow of being behind the poisoning with the use of the A234 nerve agent. Russia has refuted all allegations and pointed at the complete lack of evidence provided to support such claims.

On April 12, the the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) submitted a report to the members of the organization on the findings of the incident investigation. The details of the report have not been disclosed, since it is available only to representatives of OPCW member countries, however, according to the information received, the organisation has confirmed London's conclusions about the nature of the substance that Sergei and Yulia were poisoned with.

The Russian Envoy to the UN pointed out later that the report from the OPCW does not include any information that would help the UK government substantiate claims about Russian involvement in the nerve agent attack against the Skripals.

Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that after one and a half months, UK government still has not asked or provided Russia with professional documents on the matter.