A lethal nerve agent left on a park bench triggered a global diplomatic crisis.

History · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2018, a former Russian spy and his daughter were found unconscious in a quiet English town, poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent. The incident sparked a massive international fallout, leading to the largest expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history and raising urgent questions about state-sponsored assassination attempts.

On March 4, 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent who had been living in Salisbury, England, since a 2010 spy swap, visited a pub and restaurant with his daughter, Yulia. Shortly after, both were discovered unresponsive on a public bench. Emergency responders found Yulia foaming at the mouth, her eyes fixed and white. Both were rushed to Salisbury District Hospital in critical condition, where they remained for weeks. A detective who visited Skripal’s home also fell ill, requiring intensive care.

British authorities identified the substance as Novichok, a group of highly lethal, largely undetectable nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s. Investigators traced the contamination to the front door of Skripal’s home, though traces were also discovered at the restaurant and pub the pair had visited. The incident had tragic consequences for the wider community; months later, Dawn Sturgess, a local resident, died after her partner found a discarded perfume bottle containing the agent and gave it to her as a gift.

The British government accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the attack, a charge Vladimir Putin’s administration denied. In a coordinated response, the United Kingdom expelled 23 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, a move echoed by many other nations, including the United States, which expelled 60. The incident occurred against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Russia and NATO, following the 2014 annexation of Crimea and reports of election interference. By 2019, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons officially added Novichok to its list of banned substances.

The poisoning remains a significant point of contention. While British officials maintain the attack was a state-sponsored assassination attempt, Putin dismissed the claims, arguing that a military-grade agent would have killed the targets instantly. The case gained further notoriety in 2020 when Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was also poisoned with Novichok, highlighting a recurring pattern of high-profile chemical attacks linked to Russian intelligence.

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