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Unraveling the Skripal Poisoning Mystery: Most Surprising Theories

© AFP 2023 / Adrian DENNISBritish Military personnel wearing protective coveralls work to remove a vehicle connected to the March 4 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham, southeast England on March 14, 2018
British Military personnel wearing protective coveralls work to remove a vehicle connected to the March 4 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, from a residential street in Gillingham, southeast England on March 14, 2018 - Sputnik International
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With the air of secrecy and mystery surrounding the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, police and media have speculated on how it actually happened.

Here are ten versions, including the most absurd theories: from a miniature unmanned aerial vehicle spraying toxins all over the shopping mall in Salisbury to the latest suggestion that the substance was smeared on Skripal’s front door handle.

Mini Drone

British Intelligence believed that Russian assassins used modern technologies, targeting the Skripal family. According to the Daily Star Sunday, citing a source in the secret services, agents fear that the nerve agent could have been sprayed from a remote-controlled miniature drone, hovering above them while they sat on a bench.

“The drone is merely a vehicle to carry the weapon. It is entirely possible that it was used to carry the nerve agent and this would explain the almost complete lack of an evidence trail,” the source told the media outlet.

Secret Bank Account

The story became even more ominous as media reported, based on the information from Sergei’s niece, that Yulia was poisoned just days after she had gained access to a 150,000 pound ($211,047) “secret bank account.” The cash was allegedly collected from the sale of the house, which belonged to her late brother Alexander, who died in mysterious circumstances last year.

© AP Photo / Yulia Skripal/FacebookThis is an alleged image of the daughter of former Russian Spy Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal taken from Yulia Skipal's Facebook account on Tuesday March 6, 2018
This is an alleged image of the daughter of former Russian Spy Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal taken from Yulia Skipal's Facebook account on Tuesday March 6, 2018 - Sputnik International
This is an alleged image of the daughter of former Russian Spy Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal taken from Yulia Skipal's Facebook account on Tuesday March 6, 2018

Porridge Mystery

According to the latest reports, Sergei asked his daughter to bring bay leaves and spices from Russia, although she forgot to pick them up in the rush before the flight to London. Yulia asked an unnamed woman, flying to London separately, to buy and bring Sergei’s favorite breakfast meal – buckwheat. Media suggest that Scotland Yard has interrogated the woman, who appears to work for a large medical company in Russia.

READ MORE: Yulia Skripal's Alleged Social Media Account Active While in Coma

Tampered Luggage

The Telegraph reported that intelligence services had thought that the nerve agent was planted in Yulia’s suitcase before she left for London. The agents were considering the theory that the poisonous substance was “impregnated” in her clothing or cosmetics, or a purported gift that was opened in her father’s house in Salisbury. According to this story, Yulia was a means to get at Sergei.

Flowers at Graveyard

Another version is based on the assumption that a bouquet of flowers at the cemetery, where Skripal’s wife and son are buried, could have been sprayed with the nerve agent. Police, wearing hazmat suits, have cordoned off the site to study this theory.

© REUTERS / Peter NichollsA police officer stands outside the London Road cemetery where the grave of Alexander Skripal; son of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal; is seen covered with a tent, in Salisbury, Britain
A police officer stands outside the London Road cemetery where the grave of Alexander Skripal; son of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal; is seen covered with a tent, in Salisbury, Britain - Sputnik International
A police officer stands outside the London Road cemetery where the grave of Alexander Skripal; son of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal; is seen covered with a tent, in Salisbury, Britain

Aerosol Can

Days after the alleged attack, it was claimed that the toxin had been sprayed in their faces while they were sitting on the bench in the shopping mall.

Contaminated Food or Drinks at Salisbury Restaurants

Another idea emerged after the pictures of the pair in a restaurant had been posted on social media: they had visited a Zizzi restaurant and the Bishop’s Mill pub hours before they collapsed, which spurred speculation that they could have been poisoned.

© REUTERS / Toby MelvillePolice officers stand outside a pub near to where former Russian inteligence officer Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious after they had been exposed to an unknown substance, in Salisbury, Britain, March 7, 2018
Police officers stand outside a pub near to where former Russian inteligence officer Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious after they had been exposed to an unknown substance, in Salisbury, Britain, March 7, 2018 - Sputnik International
Police officers stand outside a pub near to where former Russian inteligence officer Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious after they had been exposed to an unknown substance, in Salisbury, Britain, March 7, 2018

Parcel Through the Post

In the wake of the poisoning, it was reported that the lethal chemical substance could have arrive at Sergei’s home via the mail.

Car’s Vent System

The next theory focused on Skripal’s car: investigators suggested that the father and the daughter could have been exposed to a deadly nerve agent though the vehicle’s ventilation system.

© REUTERS / Metropolitan Police/HandoutA burgundy red BMW car owned by former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is seen in this photograph released by the Metropolitan Police in London, Britain March 17, 2018
A burgundy red BMW car owned by former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is seen in this photograph released by the Metropolitan Police in London, Britain March 17, 2018 - Sputnik International
A burgundy red BMW car owned by former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is seen in this photograph released by the Metropolitan Police in London, Britain March 17, 2018

Front Door Handle

24 days after the incident, police said that the highest concentration of the substance had been discovered on their front door handle. However, Richard Guthrie, an independent chemical weapons expert, told the New York Times, that leaving the poison on Skripal’s door handle would require specialized knowledge in chemistry in order to ensure that the target would be affected.

“It’s a huge implication, if it was the door handle, because it means someone had to be in the UK with the material. Anything you create that would stick to the door handle, you’ve got to make it so that it would be removed from the door handle when it was handled, and not dropped off too quickly. That’s complicated chemistry.”

© AP Photo / Frank AugsteinPolice officers stand outside the house of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was found critically ill Sunday following exposure to an "unknown substance" in Salisbury, England, Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Police officers stand outside the house of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was found critically ill Sunday following exposure to an unknown substance in Salisbury, England, Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - Sputnik International
Police officers stand outside the house of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal who was found critically ill Sunday following exposure to an "unknown substance" in Salisbury, England, Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Referring to “trustworthy” sources, the British mainstream media have set forth umpteen conflicting versions; none of them has been proven. However, that has not prevented the UK authorities from dragging dozens of nations into a diplomatic row with Moscow.

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