The story
On March 4, 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former officer of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence, who had spied for Britain and moved there in a 2010 prisoner swap, was found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury with his daughter Yulia. Both had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, a family of chemical weapons developed in the late Soviet Union, smeared on the door handle of his house. A police officer, Nick Bailey, also became seriously ill. All three survived after weeks in hospital. In June, Charlie Rowley found a perfume bottle that had held the poison and gave it to his partner Dawn Sturgess, who sprayed it on her wrists and died on July 8.
Britain and its allies expelled about 150 Russian diplomats in the largest coordinated expulsion since the Cold War. British police charged two GRU officers traveling as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, whom researchers identified as Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, and later a third, Denis Sergeev. The two men said on Russian television they had visited Salisbury cathedral as tourists. The public inquiry into Sturgess's death reported in December 2025 that the operation had been authorized by President Putin and that he bore moral responsibility for her death. Russia denies involvement.
Why it mattered
- The attack led to the largest Western expulsion of Russian diplomats since the Cold War.
- Open-source investigators exposed the GRU unit behind it, revealing a pattern of operations across Europe.
- Dawn Sturgess's death showed how state poisonings can kill bystanders, a central concern of the 2025 inquiry.
Sources
- Dawn Sturgess Inquiry Report GOV.UK
- UK sanctions GRU after Putin found 'morally responsible' for Novichok death Express & Star (PA)
- Chemical weapons agency confirms British findings on Salisbury CNBC
- Third suspect in poisoning of former Russian spy named by investigative group NPR
- UK police identify GRU general as third suspect in Salisbury Novichok attack Meduza
- Novichok perfume bottle contained enough poison to kill thousands, inquiry told Express & Star (PA)
- Russia to expel 150 Western diplomats, close US consulate The Globe and Mail
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
Claims checked against the record
Consensus: Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned with Novichok in Salisbury on March 4, 2018; they survived, but Dawn Sturgess died after handling the discarded poison. British police charged three GRU officers, and the 2025 public inquiry found the operation was authorized by Putin. Russia denies it.
- Dawn Sturgess Inquiry Report GOV.UK
- UK sanctions GRU after Putin found 'morally responsible' for Novichok death Express & Star (PA)
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